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De Me eae oat tartrate ewe mepnteatntinep wrentre ye
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: - ° THE LOG CABIN LIBRARY.
onde
“Wretch! you dare not drag.these innocent ladies from .their
homes!” ‘cried Mr. Pemberton.
“Old man, I dare about any deviltry you canimagine. In ten
minutes this house will be in flames. If you make one signal
fire, ll make another. Be thankful if I do not leave you to
burn in this.”
“Oh! man, have you no mercy? Spare my father and his
home!” cried Maude. .
“TI would like to accede to your first request, fair lady, but I
fear if I do, you will not so readily accede to mine. If you will,
I will let your father go scot \free. If you will not, ne burns
¥ here under his own rebel roof.”
: And the villain bent forward and whispered words he dared
I" not speak aloud in ier ear.
It was a terrible risk he ran then, for the girl, wHd in her just
anger, snatched his own sword from its scabbard, and, before
the villain knew what she had done or intended, she had
~ sheathed the blade to its very hilt in his breast.
“Carleton—I’m done far! Carry me off!’ groaned the liber-
tine lord, as-he fell to the floor, while Maude, drawing the sword
from the gaping wound, sprang to release her father from his
bonds. .
Then, while the astonished lieutenant and the only other man
left in the room sprang to liff up the fallen officer, Maude,
o Fanny, and Mr. Pemberton rushed through a back door and
reached the piazza.
shrubbery, whence escape to the park would have been. easy,
but Lieutenant Carleton saw the movement, and shouted to his
’A moment more and they would have been safe in the garden’
|
“men to secure them. . / . :
Their,retreat was instantly cut off, and now, when the men
eg learned’ that their commander was seriously if not mortally
: . wounded, and by the hand of a woman, they wanted, in their
wild fury, to sacrifice the whole party—women and all who were
'» . found in the house. :
\ But Lord Markton, partially recovering, forbade this, and
told Carleton to gather the men and plunder, and, with Mr.
Pemberton and the girls as prisoners, to hasten back to the
schooner, bearing him on a litter. /
“I fear you are mortally wounded, my lord,” ‘said Carleton, as
he sought to stanch the flow of blood. ‘ .
: “Tf Tam I will die with my head on the bosom of the girl who
( hath slain me!” gasped the libertine. °‘*Guard the girls and the
: old man closely, and get me away from here quick.’ I need a
surgeon’s aid, and it cannot be had this side of the ship.” *
| ‘The men were quickly assembled, and, laden with plunder,
they marched off, forgetting in their haste to fire the house, as
‘ __ Was originally intended. ~ . ‘ .
* «Move sharp and close up!” came from the lips of the lieuten-
ant, before they were a mile from the house, for a couple of rifle
shots from a dense wood on their left sent two of his men to
earth never to rise again.
: | ‘Heavens! This will never do!” cried the officer, as another
shot fired from the thicket on their right took a man close by
|. his side. Shot through the head the man fell dead without ut-
tering aword. . . a
| “We'll all be picked off without a chance to fight. Move on,
men—move on!”
D Shot after shot now came right and left, and men fell fast,
hr while the lieutenant hurried them forward toward an open field,
where he could form and show a front, but at the moment they
gained this, there was a terrible clatter of horses’ hoofs, and a
cloud of mounted men dashed upon them, shouting:
‘Liberty or death!”
“Save yourselves—save yourselves as best you can!’ shouted
the lieutenant, flying like the coward that he was from the side
of his dying commander. , : :
The ruffian’ crew, laden with plunder, and. many of them
_ ¢ drunk, made but poor progress in getting away, and fully half
were ridden down, shot, or captured, before they could reach a
' piece of wood bordering on the swamp, which the patriots could
not or would not ride into.
“Circumstances are changed—but we will return good for
evil,” said Pemberton, as the Sons of Liberty rushed to his side,
finding him and the two girls unharmed. ‘‘Carry this wounded
oe officer to my nouse. If we cannot save his life, ve may smooth
his dying moments.” :
“Merciful Heaven! Is this the man whom I would have
left homeless, even childless if I could?” groaned Markton, in
€
: agony.
f SThe next day as Lord Dunmore, on. board the Formey, was
waiting, the tender was discovered coming down tho river with
her flag at half-mast. *
Lieutenant Carleton was soon on board, and he told a wonder-
ful tale of being surrounded by hnudreds of armed patriots, of a
terrible cavalry charge made which dispersed all of his men who!
,
were not killed or wounded, and at last, he reported that Lord
Markton had been left mortally wounded in the hands of the
enemy.” .
It was now well on in the afternoon, and Lord Dunmore, after *
a consultation with the officers of the ship, decided to drop
down the river as soon as it was dark.
While this consultation was being held, a sail was discovered
coming up the river—a schooner, which the glass soon pro-
claimed to be a vessel of war, for her long brass guu amidships
shone brightly in the evening sun.
~*What colors does she show?” asked Lord Dunmore, of an
officer who had his glass leveled vpon her.
“The oddest I ever saw, sir. It seems to be a snake of black
and gold on a white ground, with mottoes of some kind around
it.”
CHAPTER XXIX.
; DEATH OF LORD MARKTON.
. When Lord Markton was carried back to the Pemberton man-
sion, and an experinced surgeon was found among the Sons of
Liberty, who had gathered so quickly when summoned by the
signal-fires, -he was treated with a kindness and gentle courtesy
that touched his very soul; and while the doctor examined his
wounds, he said that he had but one cause for wishing to live—
he wanted to make amends for the wrongs. he had done, or ine
tended, to a brave and chivalrous people.
“You are the daughter of Mr. Maynard, who is with Lord
Dunmore on board my ship,” said Lord Markton to Fanny, in
a feeble tone. She had just brought the surgeon some bandages,
and stood regarding the dying man with a look of pity. “I had
a letter somewhere about me from your father, bidding you to
go with me to meet him on the ship. But, lady, stay where you
are. The men on the British side have become fiends, like me, in
this war, which has only commenced. Pure and fair beings like
you must avoid them.” “ ,
‘‘Have you no mother or sisters to whom you wish to write in
this hour? Shall I bring you pen, ink, and paper, or writo for
you, if you cannot?” asked Fanny, gently.
Tears started in the bold, bad man’s eyes. Sho had indeed
brought back the purest and best memories of his life.
“¥ have a mother in Merrie England, and two sweet sisters,
who little dream what'a wretch I am!” he groaned. “My eyes,
grow dim. Iknow itis the film of death coming-over them.
Lady, if you will, write a few lines of farewell and regret forme
to Lady Hester Mansfield, of Stockton-on-Lee, and a dying man
will thank you.” .
Fanny hurried to the library for writing materials. .
“You are, too late. He is gasping his last,” said the surgeon,
when Fanny came in. :
“No, no; it cannot be. iVhat shall I say to your mother?”
cried Fanny, bending low to reach Markton’s ear. .
The dying man heard her. His eyes partially opened, a smilo
lighted his wan face, and he murmured: .
“Mother—sister Agnes——”
But it was a last effort. A quiver, ono long, choking gasp,
and the blue lips stiffened in the grasp of death.
CHAPTER XXX.
: ‘HOME AGAIN.” . : ~
The vessel coming up the river was indeed the Rattlesnake,
and as she encountered the Formay she literally cut her to pieces,
and the British were forced to beat an inglorious retreat.
Ned, with characteristic humanity, did all. he could for those
of the enemy who fell into his hands wounded. In this shape
he found Mr. Maynard, and had him tenderly cared for on board
-the Rattlesnake.
After this he soon got under way with his schooner, bound
to the point nearest to his father’s plantation.
Mr. Pemberton had just returned from a ride down to the scene.
of conflict} tosee that some poor wounded wretch had not been
left to die in the thickets where he might have crept, and had
entered the sitting-room, where Maude and Fanny were engaged
in some piece of embroidery, when a servant came running in,
shouting:
“Massa Ned am a-comin’! Massa Ned am a-comin’!”
All three rushed to the door, and, sure enough, Ned Pember-
ton, in his uniform of blue and gold, was just dismounting from
a horse that he had borrowed of a planter on the river side,
“Oh, Ned—dear, dear Ned!” cried Maude, as she flew down
the steps, and threw her arms about his neck. :
“You've been having a lively old time around here, my darling
sister,” said Ned, as he returned her greeting.
“Why, how did you hear of it?” cried his father, who met
him as they ascended the steps. a
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