Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 100, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 August 1899 — THE PATRIOTS TALISMAN. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE PATRIOTS TALISMAN.

Sylvanus Cobb, Jr.

t CHAPTER V. “ Robert Seaton saw the mortal remains ♦f his father Viltmbed, and though he knew no living relative, yet those who Joined him in sincere mourning, and in ••acredly revering the memory of the de- ; parted, were many. The leading congressional delegates were present at the funeral, and the first men of the city took charge of the services. Throughout all region the truly patriotic felt that the country had been called to sustain a great Aioss; but some there were who believed ■that the departed hero had left a son who s Would make his place good. Robert had no opportunity, even had the inclination been his, for idle repining, for immediately following the settlement >of household matters, the duties of his •ew office demanded his attention. But, fact, the death of his father served to ■inspire rather than to depress him. Only <®ne source of regret was left, and that, •at times, afforded food for deepest perNot a tangible point of knowledge had he gained of that strange old man. Stephen Wilson. What his father I 4ad found breath to speak had served tn increase the base of mystery. He And known that Wilson was an English- . <Uian. and since, having learned that England had been his father’s native land, he /Was convinced that in other years there Aad been some important relations beE tween them. And. moreover, there was | Come secret, connected with the talissnanic sword which Stephen Wilson was to reveal to him. /*Oh! if my father could only have told S«e the story! If he had only spoken when he was stronger—before the hand <f death had been laid upon him! I fear, now, that I shall never know. Stephen > AVilson is gone beyond my reach, and I may never see him again. Alas! I fear the gates of the tomb have closed upon Jthe secret forever!” So mourned the youth very often in the /ffirst days of his disappointment; but his cctive duties ere long wore off the insinu«ting edges of his perplexity. He had -expected that, as soon as his company was full and ready for service, he would | S>e sent to New York to join Gen. Washington; but such was not the case; and |*Kince it was made to appear to him that vAis presence was needed in Philadelphia |';<or a time, he was willing to remain near : (Lillian. 4 “You are aware.” said Robert Morris, vho had been one of the leaders in fur|Wishing the horses and equipments, “that gwe are not only surrounded by Tories, "but that traitorous wretches lurk in !-©ur midst. We know not how nor when Bthey may strike. Up the Schuylkill they /•are organizing, and over in Jersey they |-*re already rampant. You must drill and -discipline your troop, and hold yourself -in readiness to answer any call that may Bbe made upon you. You will find work fete do ere long, never fear.” | “I will be ready,” said the young cavKulry leader.

| “And one thing further, my young Piriend,” said Benjamin Franklin, who pjraa in company with Morris, “you must hike able to keep your own counsel. There \are occasions when silence and circumwpection become the chief virtues. Be •sure your every movement will be watchand that you will be approached in | every posible way by the enemies of our i cause. Not only have the Tories of the ■Schuylkill and of Monmouth active and Enunnuating spies in our city, but some of Kthe very leaders are here also.” 1 Our hero promised that he would be S very careful. E On the evening of that very day he was E visited by his old tutor, Dr. Witherspoon, | president of Princeton College, and one Icf the congressional delegates from New I jersey. £ “My son,” said the doctor, after various I matters of general interest had been disIcussed, “Mr. Morris desired me, when I [saw you—and I will confess that I have | called this evening for that purpose—to t ask you if you know the character of Ja-t-cob Eastcourt.” | The color deepened on the youth’s face, L/but he was not at all disconcerted. « “I know it very well, Doctor; and I can I imagine why Mr. Morris is so anxious. Ea..know that Jacob Eastcourt is a most f lutter and uncompromising enemy to our npkuae, and I know, furthermore, that he Keffers my visits to ” | “Go on, my boy. Your love for his ■daughter is no secret.” p'“Nor would I have it a secret, sir. Mr. I Eastcourt, since he knows I am not to Ese swerved from my duty, suffers my vis■k* to his daughter only in hopes that he MBay, through me, learn some of our imgportant secrets. But I am sufficiently Iforewarned, and it will be my own fault Elf jam not forearmed. And, Doctor, I |4hink I may trust you with a secret.” “You may, Robert, trust me implicitly.” Be “Then know that both Jacob EastIbcourt’s wife and daughter are, heart and ■feml, devoted to the patriot cause.” •The young captain arose and took a few ■turns across the room, and finally stopped ■and laid his hand upon his visitor's shouldear Doctor, there are some things Bpteld so closely in the heart that we do not alike to be questioned about them; but I ■Hil set your mind at rest, and you can gßve assurance to others who have a right By know. I realize the responsibility restKng upon me. I fully appreciate the great intrust reposed in me ” “Aye,” interrupted Witherspoon, “it is BLgreat trust, for as our cavalry leader—the One man in direct command of the ■My... trained soldiers we have here—you tenust be admitted to our most secret counMt know it, sir; and be sure you may teust me. I will now say to you what I BKifeto my father, in solemn pledge, bes tee hedied. I love Lillian Eastcourt with my heart, but should I ever be called Kte 'to choose between her and my county, I would forsake everything else on Kb for the cause of Liberty and Inde-Sr-rtit 8 ? e“ough re Hence

the house for some time, and she was sure they were on the watch. We may here remark that the old house, near the Schuylkill, was still kept up. Robert had thought, at one time, of breaking up housekeeping, and finding quarters with one of his officers, but Patience had persuaded him to the different course, and of all his friends he knew there was not one more devoted than was she. “I think that means me,” said Witherspoon. “Spies are set upon my track by the Pine Robbers of Monmouth. That arch fiend, Fenton, the blacksmith of Freehold, would capture me if he could.” “Give me your coat and hat,” said Seaton. “I am not enough taller than you to be marked. I will go out, and when the spies have followed me away, Patience will lead you by a secret passage to Locust street. You can send your servant for your garments to our armory on the morrow.” “But, Captain, I would not have you take my dangers upon your shoulders.” “Tut, tut. Doctor! Patience will furnish you with a hat and coat. Put yourself under her direction.” Without further remonstrance Witherspoon gave up his hat and coat, and shortly afterwards Robert Seaton sallied forth, looking for all the world, in the dim starlight, like the well-known president of the College of New Jersey. He had gone but a short distance when he became aware that two men were following him. Raising his hand to his mouth to partially muffle the sound, he gave the flute-like call of the cuckoo, twice repeat-

ed. Presently a man joined him from a narrow alley leading through to Chestnut street. “Captain!” “Hush! It is I. Where are your companions?” “Through this way.” “Then through we go.” Arrived upon Chestnut street, where three others of Seaton’s men were found, they waited to see if the spies would follow. The fellows had certainly started into the alley, but they had evidently smelt mischief, and backed out. At ail events, they were seen no more thet night. Meantime Patience had conducted Doctor Witherspoon out upon Locust street, whence, in a military coat and hat, he made his way home in safety. Captain Seaton was now devoting all his time, and every energy, to the drilling and exercising of his troop. His men were mostly young, and all strong and true. They had been selected with great care and discrimination, more than two hundred having offered themselves from among whom he could select but a hundred. He had one hundred rank and file, and four lieutenants. One-half his command were armed with short rifles, and could be used as dismounted infantry should occasion require; and the horse* proved to be all that could be required. Robert was himself a thorough soldier. He had not only studied the science of war under his father’s guidance, but he had been persistently drilled in every aegi of the service. In the use of the swoed and the pistol he had gained such proficiency that his personal self-reliance was firmly fixed, and in the handling of men he was sufficiently versed to enable Him to enter upon the duties and responsibilities of command without misgiving or trepidation. His men very quickly discovered the true and reliable metal of their commander, and were, ere long, ready and eager to follow wherever he might lead. He drilled them over hills, and through valleys; and fording streams, and in mounting steep banks; in threading forests, and winding tortnous courses: and last, but not least, he schooled them in the art of systematic and orderly retreat, with his riflemen for a rear guard; and so expert did these latter become in time that they could load and fire, with rapidity and precison, upon the swift gallop; and, furthermore, he instituted various private signals, such as his father had learned among the Indians, by means of which communication could be held between detached members of the troops, either by day or by night—by which assistance could be summoned, or warning given. And so passed the time into August. In New York the American army had-met with reverses. Gen. Howe had been joined by his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, with heavy re-enforcements; the battle of Long Island had been fought and lost, and Washington had taken up his position at White Plains. Throughout the country the Tories were greatly encouraged, and in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania they were arming and ornt lh» Tnn«t barbarous and malimant

some localities, such as the Mohawk and Ramapo valleys of York, the Pines of Monmouth, and the gorges of the Schuylkill, the most bloodthirsty and desperate of outlaws, known to be robbers and murderers of old, were suffered to ply their fiendish vocation under the flag of England! Under such circumstances is it a wonder that Congress felt constrained to clothe the chief of its armies with extraordinary power in dealing with the infected districts? Just at the close sf a day in the latter part of August, Seaton saw Jacob Eastcourt on his way up the Schuylkill, in a barge pulled by half a dozen strong oarsmen. On that evening he called at the banker’s house, where he found Mrs. Eastcourt and Lillian glad to welcome him. .In speaking of her husband’s absence, the matron said that he had been visited during the afternoon by a messenger from the Montgomery farms. “And,” she added, in a whisper, “you can judge of the nature of the business which has called him away.” Robert nodded assent. He had hardly done so when he was startled by an apparition. The apartment in which they sat was not only used for a sitting room, but, when company was present, for a dining room, and by the side of the door opening toward the kitchen was a sliding wicket, through which dishes could be passed. As Robert now sat, this door and wicket were behind him, but upon his left, directly in a line over Mrs. Eastcourt’s head, hung a mirror, upon the surface of which the wicket was reflected. By this reflection he saw the wicket slowly opened, and then the face of a man appeared. It was a strange face to him, and uninviting, though not really ill-looking, and he could see that the eavesdropper’s ear was pressed forward in a listening manner. As soon as he was well assured of the character of the spy. he carelessly arose from his seat, i and moved toward the rear part of the room, and as he approached the wicket he found it closed. When he returned to his seat he told his hostess what he had seen. “I am not surprised,” she said. “You remember I once told you that our movements would be watched. There are men in the house most of the time who have no part with the family. Their meals are served to them in the servants’ quarters,

and my husband tells me they are at work for him on the wharves; but I know them to be spies. I have given you warning before.” “I have not forgotten,” said Seaton. When the visitor was ready to depart Lillian accompanied him into the outer hall, where she threw her arms around his neck and burst into tears. “My darling!” cried Robert, drawing her close to his bosom, “what is it? What has happened?” “O, Robert, do you not see how dark it is? Do you not see that my dear mother is dying? O! she has been a true mother to me —the only loving parent I ever knew. What shall I do when she is taken from me?” Robert had seen. This very evening he had noticed, with keenest foreboding, that Marian Eastcourt was failing fast; and he knew that only a great will power, exerted in Lillian’s behalf, had sustained her so long. “Precious one,” he whispered, imprinting a tender kiss upon the maiden’s brow, “if your mother is taken away, I will find you friends. You will trust yourself in my hands?” “Yes, yes, Robert. O! you will not forsake me?” “Forsake?—Lillian?” “I mean, dear Robert, yon will u,;. leave me to the mercy ” “Hark! Some one comes. Trust in me, Lillian. We can speak no more now. O! God grant that your mother may be spared to us!” ’ And with this he hurried away, just as a door was opened from the servants’ hall. Four days after this Captain Seaton was summoned to appear “privately find with dispatch,” before a committee at the State House. He obeyed the summons, and found a page waiting for him, by whom he was conducted to an ante-room, where were Robert Morris, Dr. Rush and Benjamin Franklin. Directly after him entered a man with writing materials in his hand, who took his seat in a small sub-room, or recess, opening out from the committee room by a curtained arch. “Now, Captain," said Morris, with animation. “I thing we have work for you. We have reliable information that somewhere beyond the hills of Valley Forge a strong band of Tories are gathering stores of arms and ammunition. They number a hundred, or more, and are led by a desperado named Fagan, from the Pines of Monmouth. Their retreat is Hidden. Do you think you can find it?’ “I will do my best, sir," “And if you find them, do you think you can capture them?” “I will capture their steres, sir; and if I cannot capture the outlaws, I will, at least, reduce their numbers.” “Good! When can you set forth?” “This very night.” “Are your men ready?” “They have been ready for weeks.” “Good again. Have all prepared to set forth as soon as it is dark. I will be at your quarters at sundown, with further information, if I have it” Our hero bowed, and as he did so, a motion of the man in the alcove—the man who £with the iSd wm now SThwririth hilTi

face, and one that Seaton had surely see» at some other time, and in some other place. Ordinarily the captain would not have allowed such a circumstance to interfere with pressing business, but this face fascinated him—enchained him as by a spell. Where had he seen it J He looked again, and then closed his eyes. Ha! he had it! He had seen that same face in a mirror at the dwelling of Jacob There could be no mistake. The face was one not to be forgotten. For a brief space utter astoundment staggered him; but presently his thoughts came ts him, swiftly and clearly. (To be continued.) Copyright

THE FACE IN THE MIRROR.