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Show The Bow of Orange Ribbon I H I A ROMANCE OF NEW YOIUK B I By AMELIA E. DAR.R. B 5 Author of "Friend Olivlo.,""!. Thou and th Othar OnCEto. B X Copyright, 1880. by Dodo, Meaa and Company. X M CHAPTER XVI. B For Freedom's Sake. B It was this tlnintlory ntmoaphoro of H coming conflict, or hopes and doubts, B of sundorlng tics and fearful looking B forward, that Richard nnd Kathorlno B Ilydo camo, from tho Idyllic peace and B boauty of tholr' Norfolk house. B It was an oxqulslto April morning B whon they sallod up New York bay B onco more. Jorls took his daughter in B hlB armB, murmuring "Mljn Katrljntjo, B mljn Katrljntjo! Ach, mljn kind, B mljn kind!" H Ho gavo Ilydo both hands; ho B called him "mljn zoon;" ho stooped, B and put tho little lad's arms around m his nock. H Lysbot had always admired Ilydo, M and Bho was vory proud and happy to ' have him In her homo and to. have B him call her ''mother." Tho llttlo fl Jorls took possession of hor heart In B- a moment. B In a few hours things had fallen M naturally and easily Into place Jorls H and Dram and Ilydo sat talking of tho M formation of a regiment. Llttlo Jorls H leaned on his grandfather's shoulder, M listening. Lysbct and Kathorlno woro H unpacking trunks full of flnorlcs and M pretty things. H About four o'clock, as Kathorlno H and Ilydo wcro dressing, Joanna nnd M Batavlus and all their family arrived. H Ilydo met his brother-in-law with a H gontlomanly cordiality, and Datavlus H was soon smoking amicably with him, H as they discussed tho proposed mill- H tary organization. Very soon Hydo H asked Batavlus, "If ho woro willing H to join H "When such a family a man has," ft ho answered, waving Ills hand com- B placcntly toward tho six children, "ho B must havo somo prudence nnd consld- B oration. It Is a ucd prlnciplo with B mo not to meddlo with tho business of other people." B "If you go not yourself to tho fight, B Batavlus," said Jorls, "plenty of young B mon are there, longing to go, who B havo no arms and no clothes; send tn 1 your placo ono of them." B. "It Is my fixed prlnciplo. not j.to . JKL mcdik; In ih affairs &f other pponfo, HbSSpTWrMIa nrb'iacnhl' to' nfJ." F J I "iravo you road tho specchos of T I Adams and Hancock and Quincy? B J Havo you heard what Col. Washington B said in tho Assembly?" B "Oh, theso men aro dtscontentcdl B Something which they havo not got, B thoy want. Thoy aro troublesomo and B conceited. Thoy expect tho century B will bo cnllod nftor them. Now, I, B who punctually fulfil my obligations H as n father and a citizen, I am con- tentod, I never ninko complaints, 1 nover want rooro' liberty. You may B road In tho Holy Scrlpturos that no B good comes of rebellion." Bram roso, and with a long-drawn whlstlo, left tho room. Jorls said etornly: "Enough you havo spoken, Batavlus. Nono aro so blind as tho so B who will not see." H "Woll, then, fathor, I can sco what Is in tho way of mine own business; and It is a fixed prlnciplo with mo not to moddlo with tho business of other H And ho marshaled tho six children H and their two nursos in front of him, H and trotted off with Joanna upon his H arm, fully persuaded that ho had douo B himself great credit, nnd acted with H uncommon wisdom. B Tho next morning was tho Sabbnih, HHHJj and it broko In a porfoct splendor of H sunshine. Thoy nil walkod to church H togotbor, ana Ilydo thought how beau- tlful tho ploasant city was that Sab- H bath' morning. B .Kathorlno and Ilydo and Bram woro Hj togothor; Jorls and Lysbct woro slow- H ly following them. Suddonly the H poaccful atmosphere was troublod by H the 'startling clamor of a trumpot. A H second blast was accompanied by the H rapldboat of a horse's hoofs, and tho H rldor camo down Broadway llko one H on a mossago of lifo nnd death, and H made no pauso until ho had vory noar- )y reached Maldon I.ano. H At. that point n tall, muscular man H seized tho horso by tho brldlo and B askodi "What news?" H "Groat nowsl great nows! Thoro H has boon n bnttlo, a massnero at Lox H ington, a running fight from Concord to Boiton! Stay mo not!" But; as ho H shook tho bridle frco, ho throw a H handbill, containing tho official nc- H count of the affair at Lexington, to H tho lnqulror. H Who thon thought, of church, though H tho church bqlls wero ringing? Tho H crowd gathorod round tho man with H tho handbill, and in ominous sllenco H listened to tho tidings of tho masso.cro H at Loxlngton, the dostructlon of stores at Concord, tho quick gathering of tho H mllltla from tho hills and dnlos around H Heading and Iloxbury, tho retreat of H the British under their harassing Are, 1 until, worn out and disorganized, they B had found a refuge in Boston. Jorls was white nnd stern in his emotion; Brnm stood by tho reador, with a fnce ns bright as a brldo-groom's. brldo-groom's. Ilydo turned to tho reader, who stood with bent brows, nnd tho paper in his hand. "Well, sir, what is to bo done?" he asked. "Thoro aro flvo hundred stand of arms in tho City Hall; thoro aro men enough hero to take them. Lot us go." A loud cry of assent answered him. Tho nowa spread, no one know how; but men poured out from tho' churches nnd tho Iiousob on their route, and tholr forco was soon nearly a thousand thou-sand strong. Jorls could hardly en-duro en-duro tho susponsp, About 2 0,'clock, ns ho was walking restlessly about tho house, Bram and Ilydo returned together. "W,oll?" ho asked. "Oh, Indeed, all fortune fitted us! Wo went en mnsso down Broadway Into Wall street, and so to the City Hall, where wo made ,an entrance" "And you got tho arms?" "Faith, wo got all wo went fort Tho arms woro divided among tho peo-plo." peo-plo." "Whero wero tho KngllBh soldiers?" "Indeed, they woro shut up In barracks. bar-racks. Some of their officers wcro In church, others wnltlng for orders from tho governor or mayor." "And whero went you with tho arms?" "To a room In John street. Thoro thoy wero stacked, tho nnmes of tho mon enrolled, nnd a guard placed over them. And now, mother, wo will havo somo dlnnor; 'tho soldier loves his mess.' " But events cannot bo driven by wishes; mnny things had to bo settled set-tled boforo n movement forward could be made. Jorls had his store to let, and tho Btock and good-will to.allsposo of. Hydo's thno was spent as a ro-crulting ro-crulting ofllcor. fn Company with Wlllot. Scars and McDougall, Hyde might bo aeon enlisting men, qe organizing or-ganizing tho "Llborty Regiment" then raising.- Every dny's events fanned' tho tomper of tho city, alth6ligji It was soon ovldont that tjie first fighting fight-ing woull bp dojio in tjbd ylflnli' of For, throo wcoks nfter that memorable memor-able April Sunday, Congress, lri session ses-sion at Philadelphia, had recognized tno mon in camp thcro as a Continental Continen-tal army, tho nucleus of tho troops that wero to bo raised for tho dofonso of tho country, nnd had commissioned Col. Washington as commander-in-chief to direct their operations. Thon every heart was In a stato of tho greatest expectation nnd oxcltcmcnt. In June- tho Van Heomsklrk troops wero ready to leave for Boston nearly near-ly six hundred young mon, full of puro purposo and bravo thoughts, nnd with all their Illusions and enthusiasms enthusi-asms undimmed. Tho day boforo their departure, they escorted Van Hoemsklrk to his house. It would havo beon hard to find a nobler looking leader than Jorls. And tho bright young lads who followed him looked llko his sons, for most of thorn strongly resomblod him in por-son; por-son; and any one might ,havo been sure, oven If tho roll had not shown It, that they woro Van Brunts and Van Illpors nnd Van Renssolne'rs, Jlooso-volts, Jlooso-volts, Westorvqlta nnd Torhuuos. - Katherlno anil Lysbot had mado tho flag of tho now regiment an orange flag, with n, cluster of twelve blue stars above tho word llborty. It was Lysbqfs bauds that gavo It to them. But fow words wore, said. Lysbct and Kathorlno could but stand and gazo as hoads wqro barod, and tho ornngo folds flung to tho wind, and tho inspiring in-spiring word llborty saluted with bright, upturned facos and a ringing shout of wolcome. It wn to bo tho 'last ovonlng at homo for Jorls nnd Brnm and Hydo, nnd ovorythlng was douo to ninko It n happy memory. Thoro had boon somo expectation of Joanna and Batavlus, but at tho last momont nn oxcubo was sont. "Tho child Is sick, writes Batavlus; but I think, thon, It Is Batavlus that is afraid, and not tho child who Is sick," said Jorls." After suppor Bram wont to bid a friend good-by, and, as Jorls and Lysbot Lys-bot sat In tho qulot parlor, Elder Somplo and his wlfo walked In. Tho elder was sad and still. Ha took tho hands of Jorls In his own and looked him steadily In tho face. "Man Jorls," he said, "what's sending you on sic a daft-like orrand?" Jorls smllod, and grasped tlghtor his frlond's hand. "So glad am I to seo you at last, oldor. As in you curae, I wns thinking about you. Lot us part good friends and brothers. If I come not back " "Tut, tut! You'ro suro and certain to como back; and sao I'll savo tho quarrol I hao wl' you until thon. I camo to speak anent things, in caso ' i d! tlio wars't, to toll 'you that if any ono wants to touch your wlfo or your bairns, a brick in your houso, or a flower in your garden plat, I'll stand by all, that's yours, to the last shilling I hac, and nnno shall harm them." "I havo a friend, then. I have you, Alexander. Never this hour shall I rogret." Tho old men bent to each othor; thoro wero tears In their eyes. Without With-out speaking, thoy wcro awnro of kindness nnd faithfulness and gratitude grati-tude beyond tho power of words. Hydo nnd Kathorlno woro walking in tho garden, lingering in tho sweet Juno twilight by tlio lilac hedge and tho rlvor bank. AH Hyde's business was arranged; ho was going into the fight without any anxloty beyond such as was natural to tho circumstances. While ho was away his wlfo and son wcro to rcmnln with Lysbot. If ho nover camo back, ataplo provision had beon mado for his wlfo and son's welfare, wel-fare, but and ho suddenly turned to Kntherlne, as if sho had been conscious con-scious of his thoughts "tho war will not last very, long, dear heart, and whon liberty' i's won, and tho foundation founda-tion for a great commonwealth laid, why thon. wo will ,buy a largo estato somowhero upon tho banks of this beautiful river. A hundred years after this, your ilescendants shall wander among tho trclllngcs and cut hedges nnd boxed, walks, and say, 'What a sweet jL&dlo our dear great, great grandmother had!" And Kathorlno laughed at his morrv talk and touched his sword, and askdd, "Is it tho old sword, my Richard?" ' .."Tho old sword, Katd, my sweet With it I won my wlfo. 'Oh, Indoed, yea!" Ho drew it partially from Its shoath, and mused a momont Then ho slowly untwisted tho ribbon nnd tassel of bullion at tho hilt, and gavo It Into her hand. "I havo a better hllt-rlbbon than that," ho snld, "and, when wo go Into tho houso, I will re-trim re-trim my sword." Sho thought llttlo of tho remark at tho time, though sho carefully put tho tarnished tassel away among hor dearest treasures; but it acquired a now meaning In the morning. Tho troops woro to leave very early, and, soon after dawn, sho heard tho clatter of galloping1 horses, and tlio calls of tho men as thoy reined up at their commandor's' door. . Thoy roso from tho breakfast tablo and looked nt their wives. Lysbot gavo a little sob, and laid her head a moment upon her husband's breast Kathorlno ' lifted her white faco and whispered, with kisses, "Beloved ono, go. ' Night nML' I will pray far you,- imd 'lonilvyou. My love, my dear ono!" Kathorlno laid "her husband's hantl till they stood at tho open door. Then ho looked Into hor faco, and down at his sword, with, a meaning smile. And her eyes dilated, and a vivid blush spread over hor cheeks and throat, and she drew him back a momont, mo-mont, and pasBlonntoly kissed him again; and all her grief was lost in love nnd triumph. For, wound tightly around his sword-hilt, sho saw though it was brown nnd faded her first, fateful love-t'oken tho Bow of Orango Ribbon. Postscript. (Quotations from a letter dated July 6, A. D. 1SS5.) "Yestorday I went with my aunt to spend 'tho Fourth' at tho Hydcs'. Thoy have tho most delightful place) a great stono house In a wilderness of foliage and beauty, nnd yet within convenient distance of tho railroad and tho river boats. Kato Hydo said tho houso Is more than a hundred years old, and that the fifth generation Is living In It. I am sure there aro pictures enough of tho family to account ac-count for throo 'hundred years; but tho two handsomest, after all, nro those of tho builders. Thoy woro very great pcoplo at the court of Washing-,ton, Washing-,ton, I bolleve. I supposo It Is natural, ,for thoBo who havo ancestors, to brag about them, and to show off tho old buckles and fans ami court drosses they havo hoarded up, not to speak of tho quijer bits of plato and china;- and I must say the IJydes havo a really dolightful lot of such brlc-a-.brac. But tho strangest thing Is the 'housohold talisman It is not llko tho luck of. Edon hall; -it is neither crystal cup, nor sliver vase, nor magic bracelot, nor nn old slipper. But they havo a tradition that the houso will prosp'or ns long ns It lasts, and so this-pro-clous palladium Is carofully kopt In a lockod box of carved sandalwood, ror it Is only a bit of fadod satin that was a lovotoken a St. Nicholas Bow of Orango Ribbon." (The nnd.) |
