The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1876-07-08
LOCAL "REMINISCENCES.
A LEGEND OF MARYLAND.
GAN OWRE TRUE TALE"
CHAPTER VIII.

SIltAI V Ill.
A PLOT.
We must return to the Manor of New
Connaught upon the Elk River.
There we shall find sorrowful house
hold The Lord of the Manor is in captiv-
ity; his people are detected with PRESENT.
ment that they are to see him no more; his
wife is lamenting with her children, and
counting the weary days of his imprison-
ment.
His hounds they all run masterless,
His hawks they flee from tree to tree"
Every thing in the hospitable woodland
home is changed. November, December,
January had passed by since Talbot was
lodged in the Gloucester prison, and still
no hope dawned upon the afflicted lady.
The forest around her howled with the
rush of the winter wind, but neither the
wilderness nor the winter was so desolate
as her own heart. The fate of her hus-
band was in the hands of his enemies.
She trembled at the thought of his being
where he would be deprived of that friendly
sympathy SO necessary even to the vindica-
ton of innocence, and where he ran the
risk of being condemned without defense,
nents.
But she was a strong hearted and reso-
lutte woman, and would not despair. She
had many friends around her-friends de-
voted to her husband and herself. Among
these was Phelm Murray, cornet of cav
airy under the command of Talbot-a
brave, reckless, true-hearted comrade, who
had often shared the hospitality, the ad-
venturous service, and the sports of his
commander.
To Murray | attribute the planning of
the enterprise I am now about to relate.
He had determined to rescue his chief from
his prison in Virginia. His scheme re-
quired the cooperation of Mrs. Talbot and
one of her youngest children-the pet boy,
perhaps, of the family, some two or three
years DID, imagine, the special favorite
of the father. The adventure was bold
one, involving many hardships and perils.
Towards the end of January, the lady,
accompanied by her boy with his nurse,
and attended by two Irish men servants,
repaired to st. Mary's, where she was
doubtless received as a guest in the man.
sion of the Proprietary, now the residence
of young Benedict Leonard and those of
the family who had not accompanied Lord
Baltimore to England.
Whilst Mrs. Talbot tarried here, the
Cornet was busy in his preparations. lie
had brought the Colonel's shallop from
Elk River to the Patuxent, and was here
concerning plan to put the little vessel
under the command of some ostensible
owner who might appearin the character Of
its master to any over curious or inOppor-
tune qucstioner He had found a man eX-
actly to his hand in certain Roger Skreene,
whose name might almost be thought to be
adopted for the occasion and to express the
part he had to act. He was what we may
do whatever Murray commanded, to ask no
questions, and to be profoundly ignorant
of the real objects of the expedition. This
plant auxiliary had like many thrifty-or
more probably thriftless-persons of that
time, double occupation. He was am
phibious in his habits, and lived equally on
land and water. At home he was a tailor,
and abroad a seaman, frequently plying his
craft as skipper on the bay, and sutfi-
GENTLY known in the latter vocation to rem
der his present employment matter to
excite no suspicious remark. 1t will be
perceived in the course of his present adj
venture that he was quite innocent of any
avowed completely in the design which he
was assisting.
a good friend to Talbot probably one of
the familiar frequenters of the Manor House
of New Connaught-a bold fellow, with a
hand and heart both ready for any peril
GUS service. He may have been a comrade
of the Comets in his troop. His name
was Hugh Riley-a name that has been
additionally connected with daredevil ex-
PLOTS ever since the days of Dermot Memoir
rogh. There have been, believe, but few
hard fights in the world, to which Irish
men have had any thing to say, without a
Hugh Riley some where in the thickest
part of it.
The preparations being now complete,
Murray anchored his shallop near con-
venient neutrality-suspicious. within the Mat
tapony creek.
In the dead of winter, about the 30th OF
January, 1856, Mrs. Talbot, with her SER
wants, her child, and nurse, set forth from
the Proprietary residence in st. Mary's, to
journey over to the Patuxent-a cold,
bleak ride of fifteen miles. The party
were all on horseback: the young boy, per-
haps, wrapped in thick coverings, nesting
in the arms of one of the men: Mrs. Tai.
bot Drawing the sharp wind in hood and
cloak, and warmed by her own warm heart,
which beat with courageous pulse against
the fierce blast that swept and roared across
her path. Such a cavalcade, of course,
could not depart from St. Mary's without
observation at any season; but at this time
of the year so unusual Il sight drew every
inhabitant to the windows, and set in mo-
ton current of gossip that bore away all
other topics from every fire side. The gen,
temen of the Council, too, doubtless had
frequent conference with the unhappy wife
of their colleague, during her sojourn in
the Government House, and perhaps Sc
cretly counseled with her on her adventure.
Whatever outward or seeming pretext may
have been adopted for this movement, we
can hardly suppose that many friends OF
the Proprietary were ignorant of its object
We have, indeed, evidence that the enc
mics of the Proprietary charged the Coun.
Gil with direct connivance in the scheme
of Talbot's escape, and made it subject
of complaint against Lord Baltimore that
he afterwards approved of it.
Upon her arrival at the Patuxent, Mrs.