Show SWIM I 1 a 1 I 1 iv aples lee 6 cents no 1 CHAPTER I 1 N NICHOLS C 1 H DIES colln colin was harwi carula VE cral benedict arn jetts its lt nichols nah Nl chols born july aho vho ho had bad run away fi f 0 ore r and at died april stripling strip Hns in quest 0 01 later life as a parn pari home in fillmore nancys ty IL chronic nephritis neth prospered shipping hors hor sill to the west indies was the nander mander in chief he be had no nten 3 with the potbellied pot bellied mouth fighters in to congress lie ile was an arrogant nr highhanded man lacking in dignity and politeness still lie he had the unconquerable qu erable spirit ills courage and valor had been proved dark skinned and black bearded his blue gray eyes often glowed with anger in his bis strong athletic body was the energy ot of wildcats and the snarl of them was often in his mouth stung by ing ingratitude tati tude ills his was the spirit of protest now abroad in the land congress for some reason had promoted every brigadier save himself ile he had suffered indescribable bard hardships ships going to quebec and was wounded there in a desperate assault with a geet fleet in lake champlain he had delayed the advance of the british tor for ft a year yet the sim bottsen in congress under some hidden influence had thus expressed their appreciation pre clation general washington had mildly rebuked this his slighting elf biting of an able officer ills sympathy had kept arnold in the service and his sending the best massachusetts regiment to be an arrow in the quiver of the black general Ce signalizes signalized the special interest of the chief in this member of his staff colln colin had not been a day in the albany camp when he received a note front mrs bowlby 1 I heard beard from a friend of general arnold that you were to be here she wrote As soon as possible after you arrive come for a talk with me at 49 pearl street it was a brief and cheerless note ebat did it mean night igat bad fallen ile he hastened to the address of sirs mrs bowlby lie ile passed a public house with open doors at its bar a reveler was singing a mournful love ballad A moment he listened it told what a man had done for the love 0 barbara bara allen alien yes tes I 1 know I 1 know all about it he be whispered as he went on mrs bowlby bok aby met him with a sad face they sat down together she was silent Is it bad news be asked it Is not good news our love story Is now in the hands 0 god I 1 dont know what will happen ill tell you the whole story I 1 met the british at crown point seeing the great army of burgoyne our small force scattered the filthy indians were with the enemy I 1 pretender pretended to be a loyalist told them I 1 would help and that I 1 wanted to see miss I 1 met her she was in a party of grand ladies lady harriet ackland a daughter of 0 the earl of 0 Jl chester the young baroness de Itle lU edesel desel mrs major Illar nage and others these fine gowned highbred high bred women two of 0 whom had children with them were going to ride comfortably fort ably through the wilderness in n tumbrels a kind of two tio wheeled cart think of that they were among the indians they were interested in the look and the chattering ot of the noble red men the mosquitoes and gnats and black flies were as thick as ants on a puddle of molasses they were nere biting through the veils and sleeves and stockings of the women and getting to their necks and wrists they had bad expected a sylvan paradise they had found purgatory the children were crying with pain it was an itching swollen bloody wretched group I 1 had a little talk with your sweetheart ot of course she know me until I 1 had given her the truth as you and I 1 know it she clung to me then her horse had gone with others in the charge of scouts who knew the forest we ve went on in the bateaux as far as we could A part of the force set out to lay siege to TL I 1 took to the woods with about twelve hundred women some children a lot of 0 indians a force of pioneers and three regiments of canadian mil militia itla we were to move westward clearing the ruined road and camping in the wilderness to wait for the main force I 1 was dolln an ox team I 1 them that only jumpers could get through rough ili but they made me hitch to a wason loaded with baggage I 1 warned vat to stick to me she did it and rode on one of my oxen an old lady who was with her went with lady ackland in a cart they were far behind us all bridges lt baad p jaad been destroyed soon the whole baggage a age train foundered in a swamp then e wade jumpers had to be built the tumbrels were wrecked the first day the ladles veils were torn to rags in brush and briers their life became a battle with hardship they got through the swamps on the backs of oxen rat fell sick of a fever the poor child was very sick and no physician at our camp I 1 knew that in june doctor parmly of hudson a loyalist was always at his fishing camp on a lake not more than three miles from where we were ere I 1 got permission to take her there on condition that I 1 would return the next day I 1 carried her on my back a slow hard bard journey but I 1 got there doctor parmly took her in the poor girl was down with smallpox they had all been ilk inoculated and were good to us ua they it at down to the it henry for a lie he nurse came subscription Subscript iori left the doc er to general ATTY WIT WIL eAl rAl bany 1111 on his 1 l since t than he it I 1 ON JUDIC said colin as lie he attorney E house pointed a mec me an hour our a g so 0 general will do e ann council of t 11 th tb site g Is py probably the board ofir licy are all over bar associate ow it ls Is not easy S e river these days T theland Th he enand n ai re colln colin wrote a letter to his beloved when it v was as in ishad asbed he said to urs mrs bowlby have you the courage to take lake it up tip the river tomorrow and try to make Parm lys camp it I 1 so I 1 air vi ill give you ten pounds first come with me and we will take a look into the year ahead said mrs bowlby what do you mean 1 I know a man who has a marvelous gift lie ile can see into the future 1 I have no faith fait in that kind ol of thin chlus colin answered ile he foretold the week vicel of my marriage and the kind of man I 1 would 1 S t W all you have a sweetheart whose life Is 1 in peril marry and my successful trip with your letter I 1 will not take the risk of the journey you ask me to make without his advice so it happened that colin went with mrs bowlby to a crystal gazer and a reader of the great stars a long haired polite man with large dark eyes of the name of Kar ICar apotos who had a luxurious suite of rooms and who had done a thriving business in new york driven away by the war scare be had been working the big river towns in which many rich new yorkers had bad sought refuge lie ile told sirs mrs bowlby that she would soon be going away on a perilous and important mission it would be suc colln colin was interested ile he gave the date and hour of his birth soon the fortuneteller fortune teller made this confident and astonishing declaration you have a sweetheart whose life Is in peril I 1 think that she is with the british army I 1 see darkness and lights flashing lights they will ghe I 1 c you good news I 1 see a battle the americans will win an easy victory there will be a great scampering of the frightened enemy I 1 see another battle a long hard bloody battle again your tour army wins I 1 think it will lie be the defeat of burgoyne some friend rather dear to you will be among the dead I 1 see a man riding a horse I 1 think it will be you going to meet your sue sweetheart etheart in some distant place long after the battle colin paid a fee the man with a smile of incredulity no doubt lie had learned from mrs bowlby of pat in the british army and nancy in new york anyone of good sense would know that burgoyne was bound to be defeated and that sirs mrs bowlby would succeed on any mission it there should bo be a victory against the army of st SL leger it would tend to strengthen his weak faith in the stars ile he would see what was on the scroll of the near future as it unrolled the little adventure in that chamber of mysteries had been worth all it cost for it had won the needed help of mrs coalby the good woman was now willing to undertake the mission lie ile left her and soon after daylight in the morning was on his bis way up the mohawk valley with arnolds army st leger then besl besieging eging fort stan alx was depending mainly on a large force of indians the cunning arnold knew that they were as fickle as the april wind and easily alarmed lie ile had a force of only fifteen hundred men on the way lie he caught two tuo loyalist halfbreed half breed brothers of the name of 0 cuyler they were related to old thorny tree of the onondagas Onon dagas belag being part indian they had some influence with the red men one of them was a they were both led to believe that they would be hanged theair panic having continued for some hours the lackwo was told that lives ilves would be spared on one condition ile he must go on ahead to the tort fort and tell the indians that a force of ten thousand men were coming from whom he had narrowly escaped ills brother was to be held as a hostage it if when arnold got there the indians had not deserted the brother would be promptly hanged banged by the neck the lac kirit A coat was as hung on a bush while arnold tore it with bullets youn young cuyler curler put it on and hurried away his brain filled with the seed of panic A rich harvest came of it many indians broke away from st leger others in a riot turned their guns on the british the camp was quickly demoralized when Ar arnoldas nolas force appeared guns and knapsacks were thrown away and the tracks of the white men were four feet apart on the he german flats as they ran to save themselves it was a rout and many men guns and stores were captured the victory and the scamper ing set colin to thInk thinking ln of the star reader was it all coming true and were his troubles soon to end that night a dispatch bearer reached their camp bringing orders to arnold from the commander in chief and a letter to colln colin from the lady washington then at mount vernon she wrote my dear boy 1 I am almost took poorly thinking of my husbands enemies howe inowe has been stopped tie ile will not attempt the river pas passage sae to the north burgoyne will not be able either to get back or forward lie ile is certain to be delea defeated ted gates Is a good politician I 1 pray god that you may live through it the general says little in ills big letters about the war one may pry find and pry and never get an opinion hut but I 1 know a lot more than he thinks I 1 do of what Is gol going on in that head of his when burgoyne surrenders the british can have no hope of winning the war they may keep on fighting and make a lot of trouble but it can only end in their defeat I 1 get a thrill in my spine thIn thinking kinq that you and rat pat will soon lie be near each other it if you get together dont you dare get married without letting me see it done dont try to rob me of the privilege e of seeing that it Is well done ive suffered enough looking forward to your marriage to have a share in your happl happiness I 1 reckon I 1 ought to be the first one to kiss the bride and groom when you meet go and find the general and tell him that you must have at af least two months for your honeymoon it if I 1 am not with him you hire a mald maid for the girl it if necessary and point for mount vernon I 1 will pay all the expenses going still and coming and we can have a grand and glorious good time in this big house As amos used to say you hear to me affectionately yours martha washington with burgoyne encompassed in a hopeless pocket and howe held below the highlands in the south by the strategy of washington general gates arrived in albany the harvest was ripe and aided by his influence in congress gates was to be the reaper the blond handsome polite schuyler whom lie had displaced offered him what assistance he could render but W ans 1 S D not ot I 1 invited 1 cited to his h is cou council n ell early in september Ax arnolds force began a silent dogged march northward ard to join gates army on the upper hudson they passed through half burned ruined villages with many houses partly torn down for firewood colin now enjoyed the confidence and friendship of arnold the dark skinned fighting man showed the young colonel a dispatch from washington ing ton in it were N ere these words if I 1 can leep keep howe below the highlands fiands I 1 think their schemes will be entirely baffled we dont have to worry about howe said arnold the old master lias has got him hog tied well break the back of the british with the highlands the rivers and lake champlain in our possession canada Is shut off the french will come to help us I 1 can see no hope for the british when burgoyne Cur goyne is beaten colin saw clearly that the crisis of the war and of his own personal history was now in the near future in his account of the journey colin speaks of a slim handsome youth who rode a magnificent bay stallion at arnolds side he has a slight red mustache and red hair clubbed and tied with ribbons the general calls him joe brown ile he wears a coat of brown velvet a butt buff waistcoat and white breeches ills his hands are always ile he Is a splendid horseman ile he must be a person of importance tor for he has an armed groom for his bis horse borse and a small tent of his own every night the groom sleeps on his blanket in front of the tent the young roan man never speaks no one has hoard heard his voice I 1 wondered at that until the general told me that he be Is leaf deaf and dumb the son of a rich man who Is paying arnolds salary the boy wishes to see what war Is like said the general A serene faith lias has come to me that the battle ahead Is to end my troubles colln colin wrote in a letter does it come from the astrologer no I 1 think not nut but from some source I 1 get confidence that the god of battles will cover my head bead and hers and bring us together they arrived at the big camp ou on bemis heights a ridge of wooded hills near the western shore share of the upper hudson fortified fortl fled by kosciuszko Kosc luszko with entrenchments ments three quarters of a mile long ions and re doubts and batteries commanding the open valley from the waters edie edge arnolds army was on the far left of the line which faced northward the british encamped two miles away their left on the river on the nineteenth of september the british Britis li right led by burgoyne Burg nyne began to advance in force fires and drums sounded soon their whole line was pushing forward the fighting general was eager to strike while they were still in the open valley knowing knowin g that they would try 0 to o fight their way around him after long delay the word came to charge the extreme british right was then tn in forest cover arnold in danger of being out outflanked flanked threw his force against them finding the enemy too strong to be turned he sent to gates for reinforcements they were refused ile he hit the british line with tremendous vigor it began to melt before him with reinforcements he be might have cut it wide open and the battle would have ended then find there reinforcements came too late for four hours it was a hand to hand struggle with sword gun bayonet and saber arnold with colln colin close behind him led the onset in the midst of smoke and flame and spurting blood lie he was idling encouragement to his men and slashing right and left like a demon heads were split faces mangled legs lega and arms shattered breasts and bellies ripped in this deadly man maniacal lacal clash of maddened men some were skewered by the wounded ling on their backs with the shadow of death upon them spurts of name flame and smoke were bursting out of |