Show LIM M az ach ter of 07 arv tv by irvind bacheller copyright CoDy right 1932 by irving B arbeller ac beller service CHAPTER XIV continued 1111 majestic pines and spruces spruced turned into towers of flame above them all a great dead pine pille that seemed to touch the stars glowed like an obelisk of gold the conflagration reflected on the smooth surface of the river below made a picture so memorable that a distinguished officer has de scribed ascribed it in his memoirs the glowing water was cut with black shadows the spars and rigging of a ship at anchor the foliage of near trees it was a vast spread of rippling lace face work lashed with names flames on a golden background long he be sat gat in the tree top survey surveying ing the picture lie ile came down at last and went to his rest with a fervent prayer of thanksgiving suffering for food Pur Bur goynes army had to break through or surrender it renewed the right fight when the firing began the forbidden impetuous arnold spurred his horse into the mad midst t of the battle the soldiers welcomed him with learness Lear neds brigade he charged the hessians in the center and broke them the enemy retreated and had scarcely entered their camp when arnold stormed it in the face of grape shot and small arms turned at the point of the bayonet baronet he attacked the right flank they retreated but not until they had killed his horse and wounded him and colonel cabot arnold was borne oft off the field but the victory was complete meanwhile amos farnsworth lo in a tree top was dropping british officers with his deadly rifle alm aim As he saw them fall he made grim remarks thara thaes a pass into hell take that ye hired dutchman aby by G I 1 I 1 knocked his hat bat oft off nos iles down in a moment he swung his cap in the air and yelled celled licked by the god 0 moses we got em on the run in his excitement amos had slipped from grace as be was wont to put it was it his punishment that crime came so swiftly the bullet of a british sharpshooter swished through the leaves and hit amos in the shoulder ills gun dropped to the ground A second he wavered on his perch trying to support himself ne ile fell into a crotch beneath him where lie hung caught in the middle with head arms and leo legs drooping some men of the near battery took him down with ladders and bore him away on a stretcher darkness had fallen silence had succeeded the rage and tumult of contending armies the battle was won the british had bad retired colonel cabot lay wounded on the field A saber blow had cut the side of his face below the ear and stunned him he had fallen from his horse and was weak from the loss of blood A trembling frightened voice was calling him it was a womans comans voice and there was distress la in it it ile he answered he be struggled to his feet and felt his way to the side of a wounded man did you call me he be asked the answer came feebly yes I 1 knew you were near I 1 saw you fall they ran me through 1 I 1 I am nancy now you know tier her voice stopped she tried to touch his face on its way her hand fell back ile he raised it to his lips it was cold lie he bent and kissed her cheek again he spoke she did not move or answer the great change had bad come and he knew more indeed than he had ever known of that thing we call the love of women the litter filter men gathered them in the surgeons were busy in the hospital a long improvised structure which was a howling den of horrors in the midst of it after his wounds were treated te exhausted young colonel fell into a deep merciful sleep A vision vaston came in hla his dreams of the things that simeon botts and his selfish harebrained cohorts were to accomplish ue he saw the starving halt half clad shivering faithful men soon to be in the camp at valley forge some time was consumed in finish ing the conquest of the famished helpless army of burgoyne in organizing its march and in breaking camp october seventeenth the sick and wounded remained among them were ere general arnold and colonel cabot captain farnsworth would go with his regiment still weak and in much pain with brave pretenses he marle light of it and mounted his big horse another captain who rode at his side ald has written that farnsworth was the th only man he ever knew who could go gi sound asleep in the saddle for hours hour as it if it were a feather bed slighted in cates calas orders the de mon fl fighter abter left the hospital as soon as he could ride in a chaise it Is a i pity the death arnold courted hac bad not taken him wronged and embittered he was thereafter in a dark and an aown ward lard way some have the pa clence to endure and to overcome in im gratitude and some have not CHAPTER XV in which mich the broken thread of 0 love Is curiously reunited before the second battle colln colin bad received an order from general wash ington written at the mile tone stone on the Skip skippack pack road in perin penn alvania syl vanla vania directing him at the end of I 1 the he saratoga campaign to get a dis dl charge from general gates cates and pro aeed with his regiment by br a roule roul known to sergeant sapp the bearer to general headquarters colln olin still in bed ordered his men to prepare prepa re for the journey and to set out the next day ile he immediately sent a letter by p post ost to rachel bobby telling her of th the e order and mapping tile the route and destination this to make a sure ure that thai pat would know where to find blin lie he expected to be able to follow and overtake the regiment in a lay day or two but the young man was detained in the hospital more than two weeks after his men had bad gone A lingering weakness from the loss of blood kept him in bed the day of his discharge he headed for albany in the saddle arriving there he found mrs bowlby lie ile learned that bat and the lady ack acir land with their horses and an escoel of four men had set out on a southbound ship a few days before they were to leave the ship about sixty miles below albany and start westward in the saddle to intercept colin olins I 1 a regiment on its way to bead headquarters quarters her ladyship had a permit from gates to go south with the troops and join friends in ID delphia delp hla colins mare had been wounded in a foreleg in the last battle and was unlit unfit for a long journey moreover he had not enough money to buy a good horse mrs bowlay was a poor woman with children depending on her ile ie could not accept her help even if she were able to offer it the masterful woman always prepared for emergencies gen cies cles took command of the situa lon you know that washington Is with in n twenty miles of philadelphia she said lie ile Is on the Skip skippack pack road the map you sent me shows the road A neighbor of mine here Is a cousin of john who runs a mill on Perk lomen creek crecli not ten miles from there so your best route Is the delaware river rarer take the ship this afternoon down the hudson at kinderhook hire a man to take you across country to the delaware buy a good canoe a small tent and sat sail and some provisions keep moving you can make fifty miles a day with the current and more in a fair wind its as much as a horse could do in some places get a ride on the flatboats flat boats if the british are in philadelphia delp hla know it long before you get there leave the river somewhere near bordentown Borden town arid and go due west keep north of the frankford creek until you cross the old york road then cross the frankford and come to the wissahickon hickon the Skip skippack pack road will be near you lie be member theres to be some delay before you meet pat when you to do meet her know what to do I 1 guess for the lords sake dont let her get away from you rm rin almost worn word out trying to bring you together there have been times when I 1 wondered whether the war was tor for liberty or pat colln colin laughed ive learned better than to disobey your orders well theres some comfort in the thought that you get away from her if you tried she answered with a smile mother enslow Is happy with me and can stay until pat has hag a home Ili alf look after the mare the young man set out and obeyed her orders almost to the letter 11 in good weather with favoring winds he hung flung the miles behind him and fin islieb his river journey in four days near the end of it he be came upon tile the giant ebenezer Hben ezer with a fleet of bateaux loaded with provisions for army lie he was near a landing where teams were to meet him colin boarded one of the bateaux and had a brief talk with the old sea god no the war aint over not yet said with the winds an the waves an the wll wit berness an rotten meat an scurvy an smallpox a while hile longer mabbe maibe an perhaps ye cant shoot them en enemies er bribe em olt off the british Is like a big fish chats grabbed the honk book an reeled olt off a lot 0 line ye bring him in close an away he goes ngin ye got to tire him out an brownd him an lift him into the boat an wallop him over the head how long take lake nobody can tell but if hes hooked solid an the line holds ye know hes got to come soon er late Sn landing was near there colin hired a horse and in the saddle with a farmer to guide him he set out on the westward journey they reached the old york road where he began to get news the british were in philadelphia and germantown some miles north of the latter place he be came upon the light fight dragoons of washington they told him that thai he would find amos at tavern not a mile away there he met the re doubtable trooper ills right shoulder was still in sup supports lorts and giving him pain excused from froin duty he had come to an inn for the solace to be found in drink colln colin put the usual question fl how are you youl shamed 0 myself amos an been apal poorly since satan fetched me a cult cuff which ye know I 1 deserved it it if ever a man lid did guess I 1 must a done some soine tall taun in that tree an I 1 aint none too good now if it gasn wasn t I 1 fer r the love 0 god in me id git drunk an stay drunk the rest 0 my ms days I 1 swear I 1 would im that wore out with the achin you should have stayed in a the hospital youre roure so bound up in the old regiment you cannot let it get away from you which the fact Is an gods my witness I 1 love it an our great father weve been through hell bell with him film an stuck together where it goes I 1 go on an where he goes I 1 go if im bare footed an athars snow on the ground an I 1 know my ay grave Is not a mile ahead im a coln amos was like a faithful dog who suffers much and bravely dies for his master it was the spirit of the regiment in their talk its men often called the chief father as a way of indicating their affection have you got over being anxious for that charming widow colln colin asked a no sir not never amos answered 1 I think 0 tier her frequent I 1 do ay es cant help belp it but the lord pints out the way for fer me an I 1 stick to the father to colins astonishment he learned that the regiment on its march had not met miss aliss and her friend ile he discharged his guide who turned back with the two horses Z yes I 1 knew you were N near ear I 1 saw you fall they ra ran n M ma a through 1 I 1 I am nancy colln colin went un on with amos to the camp at whitemarsh at headquarters general washington received him as always gentle dignity in his manner a look of fatherly fondness in his face and ees it ft was all familiar and very grateful to the young man my lly boy I 1 congratulate you I 1 am glad to see you here and more than I 1 can tell you I 1 regret that you have had to lose blood and bring back this scar on your good face it Is a small matter said colln colin it might have been much worse we were following arnold and that Is not a task for softhearted soft hearted men A shadow came over the face of the chief it was followed by a frown 1 I have heard of his brave fighting but not he paused a second and then added officially arid and yet it t was he who won the battle said colin ue he would have won it in the first onset with timely help bell from general gates cates the chief rose and paced up and down the room with a frown but saying not a word how flow erect he stood I 1 ile he was maJ majestic estle when offended colin spoke of 0 pat and the lady ackland and their plan to intercept the troops and march into camp with them oh the young ladal the general exclaimed 1 I am forgetting my orders when happily you meet and let us hope it may be soon you are to have a leave of absence for all feces sary attention to your personal affairs you are to set out with miss fayer weather and her maid for our home in mount vernon where my wife will elcome nel el couie cowe you and where I 1 hope you may find needed rest arid and the happiness to which you have looked forward so long and with a most becoming patience needed rest colln colin thought as ho he sat in silence almost overcome by his bis sudden recognition of a melancholy truth here was a man who long had needed the rest he could not take there was respite for all others home borne rest a season of happiness but his portion was ever the fiery fur nace of anxiety and peril the un no ealing andin struggle against chaos and in gratitude there was a moment of silence the gendral arose it does cheer me and it gives me a solemn soleman sense of my responsibilities ties america Is now awake and stirring we shall have reverses but they can only delay the issue captain farnsworth has done his bis share soon I 1 shall send hitri him home borne to get married arid and to live in peace the next day passed and still an other with no news of pat and the lady ackland colln colin was alarmed he fie thought thal thai he would mount a horse and set out on the route of the regiment to find them a dubious en ter prise for it was likely that pats party had missed the trall trail of the massachusetts men possibly they had turned south before they came to it lad had they fallen in with the brit ish amos and major humphries dis him on the ground that it would be a wild goose chase colio colin spoke of his need of a horse go down to the corral and pick one out said agrios the fenced field Is fiill of them small detachments had been ahus ing an order of the general by baidin raiding the country sides far in the north atu and bringing in a great riu moe of horses and cattle colin went to the corral and there to his bla amazement descos discos ered the blaze faced walte mare that belon belonged ed to pat she aras r in good flesh and spirit she came to him when he called her name lie ile took her to the stable chero she was wai carefully groomed lie he gave his bis plan to the chief and was allowed an indefinite leave lie ile had the mare sad end died and bridled in his best boots arid and uniform which had come down with the ba baggage gage he mounted the mare and let her go as she would well aware that she would find her way guided by her own unerring corn com pass she turned from one road to an am other and again nearly two hours they had trae traveled led when colln colin saw a horseman approaching with a gun la in his hand the young youn man drew rein to get information the horseman seized the hit bit of 0 the mare saying where did you get her she Is a stole horse for a week I 1 have been tryan to find her colln colin told of her unauthorized capture by american troops and ot of his reason for being on her back 1 I was on my way to the rebel camp bald aid the other so you are the man them ladles ladies are lookin for ive heard of ye colonel where are the ladles at the house of sir roger cogert bogert about a mile ahead lies fies my master sir clr a loyalist man the kings kinga collector sir an it if ye find a better trian man ye got to go to some other planet do you know what delayed the ladies one horse broke his leg in bad going sir and they had to double up the older lady was sick when they got here the |