Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1860-04-05
1fIiGrrllQUGQug.
4 LEGEND OF TIE REVOLUTION
DY GEORGE LIPPARp.

Hidden away there in n deep glen, not
many miles from Valley Forge, quaint old
farm house rose darkly over a wide waste OF
snow.
! 1t was a cold, dark winter, and the snow
began to !all-whlle, from the broad fire.
place Of the old farm house, the cheerful
blaze of massive logs, flashed around wide
and spacious room.
Two persons sat there by that fire. father
and child. Tie father, who sits yonder, with
soldiers belt thrown over his farmer 5 dress,
is a man Of some fifty years, his eyes blood
shot, his hair changed to an untimcly gray.
his face wrnklcd and followed 10y care, and
by dissipation more than care.
And the daughter vino sits in the full light
Of the blaze opposite Lcr father "A scu lerly-
! formed girl Of some seventeen years clad in
the coarse lusey skirt and kerchiel, which
made up the costume Of a farmers daughter,
in the days of the Revolution.
| She is not beautiful; all no
Care. perhaps that disease, consumption,
Which makes the heart grow cold to name,
has been busy with that young face, sharp
cned its outlines, aud stamped it with q
deathly palcness.
There is 10 bloom on tlat young check.
The brown hair is laid plainly aside from her
pale brow. Then tell me, what is it you see,
when Won gaze in her face?
You luo!. at that young giI, ard sec ao-
thing hut the CLEAN Of two large dark eyes,
that burn into your soul.
Yes. ,lCse ewes are uuLaturallv large and
dark AID bright; perhaps CONSUMPTION is
feeding their il"u!c.
Aui now chen as the father sits there 50
Il Z Il J..
der so sad aud silent and pale, tell Inc, pray
yen, the story of their lives
That farmer, Jacob ManhieT, was a peace
ful, happy man, before the Revolut /. Since
the tie war he has becolne drunken and idle:
driven his wlo u-hcarted to the grave;
and worse than all. Joined band OF tory re-
fusrcs, nho secured the land at dead Of
night, huruing and numbering as they 60.
Tonight at the hour Of two, this tory band
vii! lie in wait in Il ncighhoriug pass. to at.
tack and murder the rebel Washington whose
starving soldiers are yunder in the huts Of
Valley Forge.
Washiugton on lis lonely iourneys,is is wont
to pass this farm house; the "ut-throats ale
there in the next chamtcr, drinking and
fcaSting as they wait tyr two o'clock Mt
night.
ana ti!p NaUpIl'I NIh1N--lDi ItI Uhl1lc WIZ
Mary they loved that name in the good old
tines what is the story of her brief young
liic?
She had been reared hy her mother, now
dead and gone home, 10 revere this man
Washington, who Tonight will be attacked
and murdered; to revere him next to God. /
Nay, more that mother, Gu her deatll-bcd, !
i,incd the hands of this daughter, in solemn
bctrothal, with the hands of a young parti- !
zan leader, Harry Williams, who now Shares
the crust and the cold at Valley Forge.
Well may that maiden's eye flash with uu-
natural brightness, well may her pale face
gathcr a single burning flush in the centre
of each check.
For yesterday afternoon, she went four
miles over roads OF ice and snow, to tell |
Captain Williams the plot Of the refugees |
She did not reach Valley Forge until Wash
ington had left ON one Of his lonely journeys, |
so this night, at twelve tie partizari captain |
will occupy the rocks above the neigiboring |,
pass, to trap the happcrs Of George Wash |
ingiUn.
Yes, that pale, slender girl, remembering |
the words Of her dying mother, had broken |
through her obedience to her father, after Il
long and bitter struggle. How dark that
= rngglc in faithful daughters heart! She
had betrayed his plot to his enemies, stipu-
lating first for the life, and safety Of her
traitor father.
And now, as father and child are sitting
there, the shouts of the tory refugees echo
fr m the next chamber; as the hand of the
old clock is on the hour of eleven hark, |
there is sound of horses hools without the
farmhouse; there a pause the door opens;
a tall stranger wrapped in thick cloak
white as snow, enters, advances to tie ire,
and in brief words socits some refreshments
and an hours repose.
Why does the tory Mauhicm start aghast
at the sight OF the strangers blue and gold
uniform. Then mumhli. G something to lis
daughter about getting some food for the
traveller, rushed wildly into the next room
where his brother t. ries were ieastins
Tell Inc, why does that young girl stand
trembling before the tall stranger yelling her
eyes from that calm face, with It's biue eyes
and kindly smile7
All, ii we may believe the legends Of that
time, few men, few warriors, who dared the
terrors of battle with smile could stand I'M
ahashed before the solemn presence of WASH
in2ton.
For it was Washington, exhausted with &
long Journey; his limbs stinencd and his
face nuinbed with cold it WAS the great
rebel Of Valley Forge, who returning to
camp sooner than his usual hour was forced
by the storm to take refuge in the farmer
house, and claim little food aud an hours
rcposo at his hands.
In few moments, behold the stranger
with his cloak thrown off sitting at that
oaken table, paItaking of the food spread
out there by the hands of the girl who now
stands trembling at his shoulder.
And look Her hand is extended as If to
grasp him by the arm; her lips move as if
10 warn him of his danger, but make no
sound. Why all this silent agony for the man