SCENE 37 - Bar-room of FLANAGAN's Inn -
evening
(The gathering of American officers, with Captain LAWTON and Major
DUNWOODIE, continue in their jovial reveries, induced by the consumption
of wine and liquor of the house and observed with greater ease by Dr. SITGREAVES,
after the departure of the bawdy proprietress.)
(Bowing to his leader in a manner he so well knew how to assume -)
LAWTON: Major DUNWOODIE will honor us with a sentimental song.
(Hesitating for a moment, then presuming it to be agreeable -)
Major DUNWOODIE sings LUNA'S BEAM
"Some love the heats of southern suns ... where life's
warm current madd'ning runs ... in one quick circling stream; ... but dearer
far's ... the mellow light ... which trembling shines ... reflected bright
... in Luna's mi-i-ilder beam."
"Some love the tulip's gaudier dyes ... where deep'ning
blue with yellow vies ... and gorgeous beauty glows; ... but happier he
... whose bridal wreath ... by love entwined, ... is found to breathe ...
the sweetness o-o-of the rose."
(The applause which follows DUNWOODIE's song, though by no means so riotous
as that which succeeded the effort of the Captain, is much more flattering.)
Dr. SITGREAVES: If sir, you would but learn to unite classical allusions
with your delicate imagination, you would become a pretty amateur poet.
DUNWOODIE: He who criticizes ought to be able to perform. I call on
Dr. SITGREAVES for a specimen of the style he admires.
OFFICERS: Dr. SITGREAVES, a song, Dr. SITGREAVES.
ONE: A classical ode from Dr. SITGREAVES.
(The surgeon makes a complacent bow, takes the remnant of his glass,
clears his throat, that serves hugely to delight three or four young cornets
at the table, and commences singing, in a cracked voice to the semblance
of a tune -)
Dr.SITGREAVES sings LOVE'S DART
"Hast thou ever felt love's dart, dearest ... or breathed
his trembling sigh ... thought him, afar, was ever nearest ... before that
sparkling eye? ... Then hast thou known what 'tis to feel ... the pain that
Galen could not heal."
LAWTON: Harrah! Archibald eclipses the muses themselves; his words
flow like the sylvan stream by moonlight, and his melody is a cross breed
of the nightingale and the owl.
Dr. SITGREAVES: Capt. LAWTON, it is one thing to despise the lights
of classical learning, and another to be despised for your own ignorance!
(A loud summons at the door of the building creates a dead halt in the
uproar, and the dragoons instinctively take up their arms, to be prepared
for the worst. The door is opened, and the Skinners enter, dragging in the
peddler, bending beneath the load of his pack.
(Gazing around in some little astonishment -)
HEAD SKINNER: Which is Capt. LAWTON?
LAWTON (drily): He waits your pleasure, sir.
HEAD SKINNER: Then here I deliver to your hands a condemned traitor;
this is HARVEY BIRCH, the peddler spy.
(LAWTON starts as he looks his old acquaintance in the face, and turning
to the leader in a lowering look -)
LAWTON: And who are you, sir, to speak so freely of your neighbors?
but, (bowing to DUNWOODIE) your pardon, sir, here is the commanding
officer; to him you will please address yourself.
HEAD SKINNER: No, it is to you I deliver the peddler, and from you
I claim my reward.
(Advancing with an authority that immediately drives the Head Skinner
to a corner of the room -)
DUNWOODIE: Are you HARVEY BIRCH?
HARVEY: I am.
DUNWOODIE: And a traitor to your country, do you know that I should
be justified in ordering your execution this night?
HARVEY (solemnly): 'Tis not the will of God to call a soul
so hastily to his presence.
DUNWOODIE: You speak truth, and a few brief hours shall be added to
your life; but as your offense is most odious to a soldier, so it will be
sure to meet with the soldier's vengeance: you die tomorrow.
HARVEY: 'Tis as God wills.
HEAD SKINNER: I have spent many a good hour to entrap the villain
(advancing a little from his corner), and I hope you will give me
a certificate that will entitle us to the reward; 'twas promised to be paid
in gold.
OFFICER OF THE DAY (making a sudden entrance): Major DUNWOODIE,
the patrols report a house to be burnt near yesterday's battleground.
HEAD SKINNER: 'Twas the hut of the peddler. We have not left him a
shingle for shelter; I should have burnt it months ago, but I wanted his
shed for a trap to catch the sly fox in.
LAWTON: You seem a most ingenious patriot. Major DUNWOODIE, I second
the request of this worthy gentleman, and crave the office of bestowing
the reward on him and his fellows.
DUNWOODIE: Take it; - and you (to BIRCH) , miserable man, prepare
for that fate which will surely befall you before the setting of tomorrow's
sun.
(Raising his eyes and gazing wildly at the strange faces in the room
-) HARVEY: Life offers little to tempt me with.
LAWTON: Come, worthy children of America! Follow and receive your
reward.
(The gang eagerly accepts the invitation, and follows the Captain towards
the quarters assigned to his troop. DUNWOODIE pauses a moment, from reluctance
to triumph over a fallen foe, before he proceeds.)
DUNWOODIE: You have already been tried, HARVEY BIRCH; and the truth
has proven you to be an enemy too dangerous to the liberties of America
to be suffered to live.
HARVEY: The truth! (starting, and raising himself in a manner
that disregarded the weight of his pack.)
DUNWOODIE: Ay, the truth! you were charged with loitering near the
continental army, to gain intelligence of its movements, and by communicating
them to the enemy, to enable him to frustrate the intentions of Washington.
HARVEY: Will Washington say so, think you?
DUNWOODIE: Doubtless he would; even the justice of Washington condemns
you.
HARVEY sings NO NO NO"
"No! No! No! Washington can see beyond ... views of
pretended patriots .... Has he not risked his all upon ... the cast of a
die? ... If a gallows ... is ready for me ... is there not one for him to
try? ... No! No! No! Washington would never say,.. 'Lead on and hang this
man today.'"
(Recovering from the surprise created by the manner of the peddler -)
DUNWOODIE: Have you anything, wretched man, to urge to the commander-in-chief
why you should not die?
(BIRCH trembles, for violent emotions were contending in his bosom.
His face assumes the ghastly paleness of death, and his hands pull a box
of tin from the folds of his shirt; he opens it, showing by the act that
it contained a small piece of paper. On this document his eye is for an
instant fixed - he had already held it towards DUNWOODIE, when suddenly
withdrawing his hand he exclaims -)
HARVEY: No, it dies with me; I know the conditions of my service,
and will not purchase life with their forfeiture - it dies with me.
(Expecting a discovery of importance to the cause -)
DUNWOODIE: Deliver that paper; you may possibly find favor.
(A flush passes over HARVEY's pallid features, lighting them with extraordinary
brilliancy -)
HARVEY: It dies with me.
DUNWOODIE: Seize the traitor! and wrest the secret from his hands.
(The order was immediately obeyed; but the movements of the peddler were
too quick; in an instant he swallowed the paper. The officers paused in
astonishment; but the surgeon had an idea -.)
Dr. SITGREAVES: Hold him while I administer an emetic.
DUNWOODIE: Stop! If his crime is great, so will his punishment be
heavy.
HARVEY: Lead on. (He speaks loudly, dropping his pack from his
shoulders, advancing towards the door with a manner of incomprehensible
dignity.)
DUNWOODIE (in amazement): Whither?
HARVEY: To the gallows.
DUNWOODIE (recoiling in horror at BIRCH's own justice): No,
my duty requires that I order you to be executed, but surely not so hastily;
take until nine tomorrow to prepare for the awful change.
(DUNWOODIE whispers his orders to the subaltern, and motions to the peddler
to withdraw. The interruption caused by this scene prevented further enjoyment
around the table, and the officers dispersed to their several places of
rest. In a short time the only noise to be heard was the heavy tread of
the sentinel, as he paced the frozen ground in front of the FLANAGAN Inn.)
SCENE 38 - Night outside the Inn and other buildings
(A rude shed extends the whole length of the rear of the Inn, and
from off one of its ends was partitioned a small apartment, which BETTY
selected as the storehouse for her moveables, and as sanctuary for herself.
Spare arms and baggage of the corps was also deposited there, and these
combined treasures were placed under the eye of the sentinel who paraded
as guardian of the rear of the headquarters.)
(A second soldier stationed near the building, guarded the horses of
the officers and could command a view of the outside of the apartment where
the only door was, there being no window or other outlet. The Sergeant,
a veteran in his fifties, had been made Capt. LAWTON's orderly by distinguishing
himself as trustworthy in the corps, and a man of most exemplary piety and
holiness of life.)
(Sgt. HOLLISTER determined that, with BETTY soundly, and quite loudly,
sleeping away by the kitchen fire, this shed would serve as the temporary
prison for BIRCH during the night, and led his prisoner from the exit of
the Inn's bar room to the one entrance of the apartment. )
SCENE 39 - Inside the attached shed - night.
(Sgt. HOLLISTER holds the lantern and door open for BIRCH to enter this
improvised prison for the night. Seating himself on a cask containing some
of BETTY's favorite beverage, the Sgt. motions for BIRCH to occupy another,
in the same manner. The lantern is placed on the floor, when the dragoon,
after looking his prisoner steadily in the face, -)
HOLLISTER: You look as if you would meet death like a man; and I have
brought you to a spot where you can tranquilly arrange your thoughts, and
be quiet and undisturbed.
HARVEY: 'Tis a fearful place to prepare for the last change in.
HOLLISTER: Why, for the matter of that, it can reckon but little,
in the great account, where a man parades his thoughts for the last review,
so that he finds them fit to pass the muster of another world. I have a
small book here, which I make it a point to read a little in, whenever we
are about to engage in battle, and I find it a great strengthener in time
of need.
(While speaking, he took a Bible from his pocket, and offered it to the
peddler. HARVEY received the volume with habitual reverence; but there was
an abstracted air about him, and a wandering of the eye, that induced his
companion to think that alarm was getting the mastery of the peddler's feelings.
Accordingly, HOLLISTER proceeded in what he conceived to be the office of
consolation.)
HOLLISTER and HARVEY sing: YOUR
SINS:
(HOLLISTER:)"If anything weighs heavy on your mind
... I can help you release it at this time... Perhaps some rightful plunder
taints your soul. "(HARVEY:) "These hands have never pillaged
... only toiled."(HOLLISTER:) "But 'tis natural to sin
... and one would not wish to die ... with his conscience plag'ing him."
(HARVEY:) "I have been taught to lay the burden of my sins ..
at the feet of my Savior."
HOLLISTER sings: "Think now ... there are three major
sins ... of which our conscience should be free: ... to steal .., to murder
... and to desert one's own country."
HARVEY sings: "Thank God, I've never taken a fellow creature's
life ... or been a soldier to endure that kind of strife."
HOLLISTER sings: "Your sin for which you will be hung
is worst of all to me ... When one deserts his country ... in its great
hour of need."
(HARVEY buries his face in both his hands, and his whole frame shakes;
the Sergeant observes him closely, and continues mildly -)
HOLLISTER: But still that is a sin which can be forgiven, if sincerely
repented of; and it matters but little how a man dies, so that he dies like
a Christian and a man. I recommend you to my prayers, and then to get some
rest, in order that you may do both. There is no hope of your being pardoned;
Colonel SINGLETON has sent down most positive orders to take your life whenever
we met you.
HARVEY: You say the truth. It is now too late - I have destroyed my
only safeguard. But he will do my memory justice at least.
HOLLISTER: What safeguard?
HARVEY: 'Tis nothing. (lowering his face to avoid the looks of Sgt.
HOLLISTER)
HOLLISTER: And who is HE?
HARVEY: No one (anxious to say no more).
HOLLISTER: Nothing and no one can avail but little now. Lay yourself
on the blanket of Mrs. FLANAGAN. From the bottom of my soul, I wish I could
be of some service to you; I dislike greatly to see a man hung up like a
dog.
HARVEY: Then you might save me from this ignominious death.
(He springs to his feet and grabs the sergeant's arm)
HARVEY: And, oh, what will I not give you in reward!
Sgt. HOLLISTER: In what manner?
HARVEY: (producing several guineas from his person): See, these
are nothing to what I will give you, if you will assist me to escape.
HOLLISTER : Were you the man whose picture is on the gold, I would
not listen to such a crime. (throwing the money on the floor in contempt)
Go, poor wretch, and make your peace with God; for He is the only one
who can be of service to you now.
(The sergeant picks up his lantern and with indignation leaves the peddler
to his sorrowful meditations.)
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