The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1903-11-19
CHAPTER XVI.
YORKTOWN.


1t was gray dawn when she rode
into the inn stable-yard, but there was
no stir about the premises, and she
found the stable-door open, as she
had left it. While she was putting
up her horse and slipping back to her
room the British were returning from
their fruitless attack. That afternoon,
when Bessemer rode out from among
the trenches and redoubts of York
town to welcome her and her aunt, to
the fortified town, he little suspected
that it was this girl who had com
passed his defeat.
The Ellerys found Edward quite as
i'll as Bessemer's letter had led them
to suppose, and for the next few
weeks their hands were full with
nursing him. When they arrived the
town wore On air of careless ease.
Young officers in gay uniforms swag-
gered through it's street, their talk
loud boasts of what would be done
when reinforcements from Sir Henry
Clinton arrived or when the British
fleet came; but gradually all this
changed. One day hope "a high; the
British fleet had been sighted; it
was coming; the next, there was the
bottomless pit of despair. The fleet
vas De Grasses.
Next came information of Wash
ington's arrival; then news hat the
French and American forces were
marching forward from Williams
burg. On the twenty-eighth the town
was thrown into q panic. The front
column Of the approaching armies
had been sighted. Orderlies dashed
hither and thither; the lines Of SOL
diery were put in motion; the man.
ming of the works was strengthened.
The besiegers came; the British aban-
doned their outer works and huddled
within the intrenchments; the siege
had begun.
During all the worry and excite
ment of these troublous times Besse-
mer did not neglect Jane nor fail
to look after her comfort as we'll as
he could. It was no secret among
those high enough up to know that,
hasA CORVALLIS followed the advice of
his colonel of dragons, he would
have made a bold dash out of York
town ere the allied forces had a
semer begged his commander to make
the attempt, and so far prevailed as
to win from him permission to make
the first essay.
Returning from the conference with
his chief, he stopped to see Jane and
took her into his confidence suffi-
GENTLY to tell her something of the
enterprise he had on foot.
eff we succeed, sweetheart" he
said, IF we get out of this hole
where we are held like mice in a
trap, then we shall be able to soon
turn the tables upon these allies and
bring the war to a speedy close; then
I shall, shall I not, claim the fulfill
ment of your promise and carry you
back to England with me as my wife"
"Col. Bessemer," said Jane, who
tried more than once to interrupt
him, 81 thank you for the confidence
you have reposed in me this after
noon, but I feel that I have been
most remiss, in receiving it without
first a%cquainting you with something
which, when you learn of it, may
cause you no longer to desire me for
your wife"
Bessemer leaned forward. "You
mean" he said.
Then, with voice which faltered not
a little under the growing anger in
his eyes, she acquainted him with her
ride to arm Lafayette's army
Bessemer's' brow d%arkened; his lips
compressed. Pushing back his chair,
he walked to the window. "And So"
he said, turning to her at last, "yon
thought to serve a double purpose
by your t~reachery? To save the
partisans of your lover, and to forge
a means Of making me repent the
wish to make you my wife? You have
miscalcnlated in the last. You shall
marry me-. Had I time, did not other
matters press, we would be welded
tonight; but as it is, the delay will
not be for long, and I will take care
that my wife shall be loyal"
He strobe from the room. Jane
sat for a moment, trembling under
the lash of his anger and not less
under the misconstruction he had put
upon the motive of her confession;
then she moved towards the window.
1t looked out upon an October sum
set. 10 the north and west a crimson
curtain had been dropped, and against
this curtain was clearly the figure of
Col. Bessemer as he rode towards the
river.
A heavy fog had wrapped the little
town and its environments in a chill
embrace when, next morning, the
British rode out from their quarters.
1t was not yet four o'clock, and the
sun had not thought of rising; MOI
was there a streak of dawn. The
troops rode silently, for their mission
must be performed quietly or not at
all. 1t was. in truth, to capture some
new batteries on the French side
which had only been completed the
day before and were supposed to be
poorly guarded. If the effort were
successful, it was proposed to throw
the whole weight of the British army
against the weakened point and cut
through a road of escape.
Bessemer and his legion were in
the lead, for it was his plan and he
was to take the brunt of it's execu-
ton. He and his men went forward
gallantly; they swarmed upon the
batteries; they captured them-but.