Read Ebook: Willie the Waif by Herbert Minie

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Ebook has 371 lines and 15896 words, and 8 pages

PAGE

"THIS IS YOUR FRIEND ROBERT MORRIS" 54

"YOU SAW SOMETHING, THEN?" 119

LAFAYETTE WAS FACE TO FACE WITH WASHINGTON 156

THE MEN SHRANK A LITTLE 213

"I AM WANTED AT HEADQUARTERS" 252

"BRAVO, MOLLY PITCHER" 326

The Young Continentals at Monmouth

TELLS HOW MR. TOBIAS HAWKINS MADE THE ACQUAINTANCE OF MR. SAMUEL LIVINGSTONE

"Do you know what to-morrow will be, Ben Cooper?"

The speaker was a dwarfish looking lad whose big head and upstanding crest of hair gave him a most curious appearance.

"To-morrow," replied the second boy, promptly, "will be New Year's day."

The dwarf shifted his leather belt so that his huge service pistol might hang more comfortably; and his voice, when he spoke again, contained a note of complaint.

"It will be that, to be sure; but it will also be just one week since Washington crossed the Delaware and beat the Hessians."

The eyes of the other boy sparkled.

"Ah, that was the night," he cried. "There, indeed, was sport, excitement and glory."

The dwarf shook his large head.

"For you and for Nat and the others," protested he. "But not for me. While you were all having your fill of fighting, I was away in Philadelphia, riding here and there, at the beck and call of a parcel of excited committeemen."

Ben Cooper's good-natured face was all a-wrinkle with smiles.

"Don't worry, Porcupine," he said. "The war is not over as yet, by a good deal. They say Cornwallis is on his way across the Jerseys, and as he's the best fighter the British have, we may expect plenty of warm work still."

It was late in the afternoon; the pale wintry sun was dipping slowly toward the cluster of peaked roofs which marked the location of Philadelphia; the snow-packed road with its topping of ice went stretching ahead like a gleaming serpent.

"We will reach there before sundown," said Ben, his eye upon the housetops as though marking the sun's position. "And I trust that we find Mr. Morris at home, for I fancy that the general's dispatches are somewhat urgent."

"The general's dispatches to Mr. Robert Morris are always urgent," said the Porcupine. "I have carried more than one of them, and I know. And I have carried them for other officers and gentlemen in and out of the army."

"Merchant Morris seems a most important person," smiled Ben.

The Porcupine brushed his crest of hair more stiffly erect than ever.

"Is it any wonder that he is?" said he. "I don't know much about the ways of people of quality, but I do know that without Master Morris there would be little money with which to feed and pay the troops."

"He is very rich, I hear."

"I have heard so too. And then, again, I have heard that he has not much more than enough."

Ben nodded.

"But," said he, "he has the power to raise funds. He seems to know by instinct the way to hidden hordes. And somehow, he knows the magic word which causes the hoarders to unlock the treasure chests. Congress, I think, has much to thank Merchant Morris for."

Ben touched his horse with the spur, and it responded instantly. It was a clean built animal whose small head and slim, powerful legs indicated Arab blood. The Porcupine's mount was a tall, raw-boned beast, sway-backed and with a wicked eye; but it evidently had bottom, for with a long, awkward stride it easily kept him at the side of his friend.

As they entered the suburbs, the drifted road gave way to the clearer streets; and when they entered the city proper, they found Second Street bare of snow, but with stones ice-coated and glistening.

"Front Street will not be so bad," spoke Ben; "there is never so much traffic there, and the snow will still be untrodden."

They turned Sassafras Street and into Front; and when nearing Arch they caught the gleam of arms and uniforms, and saw the townspeople scurrying along as though attracted by something unusual. When they reached the market-place at the foot of High Street, the two boys saw the reason for this. Along Front Street was drawn a force of Continental troops, and under their watchful eyes was a rabble of unshaven, tattered, dispirited looking men to the number of several thousands.

"Hello," spoke the Porcupine, surprisedly, as he looked over the heads of the crowd from the back of his tall steed; "and who are these?"

"Our friends, the Hessians, captured at Trenton," replied Ben Cooper. "I heard that the greater part of them were being sent westward to Lancaster or York for safe keeping. And they seem to have just reached Philadelphia."

The ragged wretches stood in long lines, gazing stupidly at their captors and at the curious throngs. And that these could be the mercenaries who had spread terror through the Jerseys seemed impossible.

A perky looking little man, standing upon tiptoe to get a glimpse of the captives, exclaimed in a high-pitched, astonished voice:

"And are these really the hirelings of whom we have heard so much! Why, they look like common vagabonds."

A plethoric gentleman in a huge waistcoat and steel buckles seemed to grow even more expansive with indignation.

"The idea," he panted. "The bare idea of such vermin spreading fear through an entire state. And the idea of our statesmen and our generals and our soldiers permitting it."

The perky man nodded and settled back upon his heels.

"What you say, sir, is proper and correct," agreed he. "I am quite amazed that such a condition of affairs has been permitted to continue for so long."

"A lot of scurvy ruffians," stated the plethoric gentleman, wrathfully. "A gathering of mean, low fellows without a shred of ambition, or the slightest appearance of manly bearing. You do well, sir," to the perky gentleman, "to be amazed. No such thing would have been permitted in any other nation under the sun."

Ben glanced at the Porcupine, and his good-humoured eyes were filled with laughter.

"It is easy to see," said he, "that neither of our friends here has been where the Hessians ranged with their muskets in their hands. These," and he nodded toward the wretched array of foreigners, "do present an uncommonly ill-favored appearance; but properly uniformed, officered and armed, they were as formidable troops as were in all of Howe's army."

Close at the elbow of the plethoric gentleman stood a tall man with prominent features and great square shoulders. He was richly dressed and carried himself with the air of a person of consequence.

"Sir," said he to the stout man, "what you have just said I agree with as heartily as our friend here," bowing to the perky man. "It is a shame and a scandal that our army should have allowed these wretched Dutchmen to hold them so long in check. To be sure," and he gestured with one hand in a scornful fashion, "they have been beaten and taken. But it should have happened long ago. It should have been done promptly and out of hand. It would seem to me," confidentially, "that our military leaders are not all that they should be."

"Sir," said the other, "you have expressed my sentiments precisely. I could not have spoken them in more fitting terms. Our officers are not what they should be. They are far from it, as they have proven a dozen times, since the fighting began at New York."

"Congress is at fault," spoke the perky man. "They should see to it that we are provided with competent gentlemen to conduct our military enterprises."

The plethoric gentleman seemed to agree with this statement unqualifiedly. But the tall man shook his head.

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