Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

it

designs, I have had ample proof. Not the least that you so blindly trusted me!" a slight smile played over his face a moment. "But be not alarmed at that imprudence; may have been the means of bringing you here, but it has most assuredly saved your life. I promised that I would aid you, and I will. Give this paper to General Pand you will be released."

"And the dispatches! how am I to obtain possession of them ?" asked our hero.

Another smile appeared on the countenance of the stranger. "It were best for you, my young friend, not to demand again such dangerous companions. Besides, they will be of no use now, as the person who was to be so fairly entrapped is aware of their nature."

"Will you permit me to inquire, sir, since you take such an interest in my fate, whether you know the contents of those letters, and what they are?"

"Certainly, I do know them. They contained information that the rebel leader was at a certain post, and his capture certain, if General Howe pursued the right course. He was to make use of you and your brave comrades to effect this. And now, do you still wish to be the bearer of those letters, as you pass through the American posts with only a passport to protect you?"

Clarence was so overcome, as the truth thus burst upon him, that he could only grasp the hand of his strange friend, and thank him repeatedly for his kind warning; at the same time begging advice as to what course it would be best for him to pursue. "Not to return, most assuredly, neither to proceed farther than the city, where your mother is anxiously expecting you."

presence and your own story can alone refute these slanders. You will receive your passports from General P, to whom I refer you for an explanation of what has occurred to you. Farewell! would that we could see so promising a youth engaged in a better cause."

With these words they parted, and Clarence returned to his seat, a prey to conjectures and doubts which he found it very difficult to solve.

"Once more I am at home!" exclaimed our hero, as he rode up to the door of a fine house on the outskirts of the city. "I wonder if I shall be recognized in this rude costume? My mother then has been ill and recovered! and Helen! where is she? Does she still think of the wanderer; or is he quite forgotten? But one reply to my numerous letters! Alas! I am doomed to a life of unhappiness." As he ascended the steps, a large dog, who had been basking in the sun near the door, jumped up, and recognizing him at once, began to frisk around. him in the most joyous manner. The old porter opened the door, and stood wondering at the scene. "Down, Cæsar, down!" exclaimed the youth.

"Master Clarence is come!" cried the old servant. The sound reached the drawingroom, and in a moment mother and son were in each other's arms.

"I thought you were ill, my dear mother," said the youth, after the first emotions were over. "You seem in better health, or at least look better, than I anticipated."

"I never was better or happier than I am at present, my son," replied Madame Dumont. "My illness was severe, and I should perhaps have suffered more, had it not been

"My mother! Do you then know my for the kind care and attention of a physimother, sir?"

"The name, and fame, too, of Madame Dumont, is, I believe, familiar to almost every one," returned the stranger. "But I understand she has just recovered from a dangerous illness, brought on by reports to your disadvantage, and maliciously circulated among the circle of acquaintance. Your

cian and nurse. The latter I am most anxious to introduce to yourself. I told you, Clarence, that I had long entertained the hope of your being united to the daughter of my early friend. This the young lady herself has rendered impossible, by entering a convent. Since I heard the news, it has ceased to distress me, as I have become

more attached to another person, and shall be most miserable if you do not unite with me in opinion regarding her. She has watched by my sick-bed day and night; and although her check has paled with the constant fatigue she has undergone, she is more lovely thus than when in the full flush of beauty. This person I refer to-my gentle, affectionate nurse-this must be to me a daughter; and it is my fondest hope that she will be to my son a devoted wife."

Clarence became greatly agitated. "My dear mother, is there nothing else which I can do to contribute to your happiness? No other way to please you than sacrificing my own peace? Can I give my hand without my heart? The long, tedious months I have passed in the army have not driven one image from my mind. Mother, I cannot obey you in this; and how do you know that the young lady herself is desirous for this union? As she has never seen me, it cannot be possible that her own feelings are at all interested."

"Will you promise me, Clarence, that if you find this lovely girl is and has been long attached to you, that you will return her love !"

"How can I promise that, dear mother? I will see her, as you wish, and she shall be to me as a sister, for your sake; but I repeat, I can neither now nor ever think of her in any other light."

"You are very cruel, my son; but come, I will introduce you to my gentle nurse; and be careful that you assume as much coldness and indifference as possible."

[ocr errors]
[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

claimed its reward, and the shrill voice of war must call us again to the battle-field. Soon after his return home, Clarence wrote to his friend Lord D, stating the circumstances of his arrest, and requesting, at the same time, to resign his commission. He expressed the indignation he felt at being made a party in so base an intrigue, and his determination to fight no longer in a cause at variance with his own wishes. The next day, news arrived that Burgoyne had been defeated, and had surrendered with his whole army. We should weary the patience of our readers, should we enter into the details of this surrender: it is also too well known. What effect the interception of the dispatches had upon this event, is proved by a letter written to the President of the Continental Congress, relating the circumstance, and saying that the information they contained acquainted the Americans with the exact situation of the royal army, and facilitated their defeat.

In the drawing-room to which we first introduced our reader, were assembled the most brilliant circle which had ever adorned it. They came to witness the union of Clarence Grahame and Helen Willians. Flora Manning twined the wreath of orange blossoms for the bride's hair, and officiated as bridesmaid. She had received a bouquet of flowers for the occasion, which, instead of pulling to pieces, she arranged in her own raven tresses, and suffered the fairest white rose to rest undisturbed in the folds of her white dress. We have learned from good authority, that the reason of this exhibition of mercy was, that the flowers were presented her by the groomsman of Clarence, a young gentleman called Edward Lester.

The evacuation of New-York by the British troops was a day of rejoicing to the longsuffering colonies; and the entrance of General Washington and his victorious army was hailed by the long-continued shouts of a ransomed people. As he proceeded through the streets, flowers fell like snowflakes in his path, and bright faces appeared like sunbeams from every window. A lady

[graphic][ocr errors][ocr errors][subsumed][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

Ir was in the year of grace

BY

EDWIN T. ROBERTS.

[WITH AN ENGRAVING.]

that is to say, in some late portion of the seventeenth century, that a young Scottish noble

man

was journeying through the most romantic districts of his native country. He was not very light of heart, if one might judge from the gloom that overspread his brow; but he was light enough of purse, of which he was reminded by many minor things that would have troubled men more philosophic; but he was stalwart of form, possessed an open countenance, somewhat over-bold, it is true; but the eagle eye and the curling brown hair, over which his cap, with a long waving plume, and the symbolic thistle fastened by a silver clasp, was carelessly flung, gave him the air of being as fine a specimen of the race as a man would wish to see.

His age could not have been over twoand-twenty, but there were two or three lines of care on his forehead, and a gloom on his countenance, as we have remarked, which now and then gave his beardless face an air belonging to riper years, in which care had

played no small part; and whether he was journeying homeward, (for he had been absent for some years from his native land,) or whether he was seeking the habitation of some friends or relatives, is not relevant to the matter in hand.

His dress consisted of a doublet which had been used with care, and a cloak that evinced rougher usage and harder wear; huge riding-boots, that came up to his knees, and his gay cap, completed his attire; and the trappings of his noble horse were as simple as might be; for, in truth, the animal he rode was of the best breed England could boast.

From his manner and mood he seemed to be a victim to some unrest that had settled deep within his heart. He felt strange and tumultuous sensations of hope and fear alternating within him; and the wherefore of all this he might have defined, had he dared to look upon the tablets of his memory. This he did not do, but rode on in an almos: sullen manner, which was greatly at varance with his personal appearance.

« ПредишнаНапред »