The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1905-12-01
THE MASTER OF APPLEBY|
By Francis Lynde. -



infer and l We're both present at his
installation of the new field commander;
II it was here that we both had on,
first sight of Nathaniel Greene, the
Hickory Quaker"
Now the historians, as is their wont.
have pictured Greene the general to the
complete effacement of Greene the man.
aad it is in my mind that you may like
to see the new commander as we saw
him, making his first inspection OF
Horatio's Gates poor shadow of an
army on that dismal December day in
Charlotte.
In Years he was 40; II as weight
goes he was q heavy man, pressing
hard fifteen stone with the knuckle of
1t under his waistcoat. one the less,
though his great bulk made him sit
his horse more like a farmer than a
soldier. he had the muscular shoulders
and arms of the anchOrsmiths, to
which trade he had been bred.
Thu hint of grossness which his fig
ure gave was not borne out by his face.
Like my Lord Corvallis his eyes
were womanish large, and nose and
mouth and the lift of the brow were
cast in a mold to match: yet there was
that in his face which made it the mask
of a soul thoughtful and serene; and
NJ iothS NoliiliCAio! "llN lalt fldlI
gave him a look of openness tina a
dark man is like to miss.
A skilled soldier. with Il good prom
Use of strenuous patience, was my sum-
ming up Of him, and Dick saw him as
| did, though with more prophetic
eye.
"He will make his mark, Jack, look
you;not in stubborn in-hghting at the
barrier. mayhap, like Dan Morgan, nor
in a brilliant dash, like our colonel, but
in his own anchorsmith's way-a heat
at a time, and Il blow at u time" said
Jennifer: and l nodded.
Stirrup to stirrup with the new COM
mander as he passed down the line
rode Dan Morgan, big, strong. MASTER
full, handsome. the very pick and choice
of leaders for his rough and ready rifle
men. Lik most Of his men, he scorned
to wear a uniform, appearing on parade
as in the field, in a neat fitting hunting
shirt Of Indian-tanned buckskin with
fringings of the samoa costume that
set off his gigantic figure as no tailor
fine coat could have set it off.
When he pulled his horse down to
make 1t keep step with the sedater
pacings of the generals. we could hear
him declaring, with an oath, that his
Eleventh Virginia alone would give a
good account of all the tories between
the Catawba and the Broad; and when
the cavalcade passed the rifle corps, the
men flung their hats and cheered their
leader in open defiance of all discipline.
All me! they tell me h q in after
years this stout Daniel. the Lion
bearder," as we used to dub him, be-
came a doddering old man. even as thy
old tale-teller is now: that he put off
All his FOSTERING ways and might be
found any Lords Day shouting, no
curses. az of yore. but psalm tunes. in
the church whereof he was a pillar.
But twas the other Daniel W. knew;
the bluff. heart man q {ns two hands.
who could pulnmel the best boxer in his
own regiment of fistcuffers: who could
o~ut-course. out-butfet and %out-drink
the hardest frontiersman on the bor-
der
Next conspicuous in the generals
suit was our colonel, the pink of light
horse commanders, with only Harry
Lee in all the patriot rank and file for
his peer. '1'is Il thousand parties that
William Washington. I'm MaE.ellus a..
the army has haG 20 suffer tile eclipse
which must dir the luster of
all who walk IN the shadow
of a greater OF the same
name. For surely there never was a
liner gentleman. a truer friend. a no.
bier patriot, or. according to his oppor-
tunities. an ADLER officer than was II
beloved colonel OF the light dragons.
But this is all beside the mark, you
will say; and you will be chatting rest
ively.to know how Dick and I had come
together in this troop of Colonel WASH
i%ngton's; to know his in a word and
to pass on at a gallon to the happenings
which followed. Nay, in fancy's eve I
can see you turning the page impa-
tiently. wondering where and when
and how this tiresome old word-spfn-
ner will make an end.
AS Margery had promised, passed
out of my garnet prison and out Of door
on the memorable evening of October
IA to find the British gone from Char
lotte and the town jubilant with patri-
otto joy.
Having nothing to detain me. and
being bound in honor by the wish of
my dear lady not to follow and give
myself up to the r%etreating British
general, l took horse and rode to Sails
bury. where l had the great good for
tune to find Dick, already breveted a
captain in Colonel Washington-s COM
mand, hurrying his troop southwark to.
whip on the British withdrawal.
Here was my chance to drown heart
%burnings in an onsweeping tide of &C
ton, and then and there I became a
gentleman volunteer in Dicks com
pany, asking nothing of my dear lad
save that I might ride at his stirrup
and share his hazards.
Touching the hazards. there were
plenty Of them in the seven weeks pre-
ceding and the month or more follow
ing our new generals coming to take
the field, as o may know in detail if
you care to follow the gallopings of
Colonel Washington's light-horse troop,
through the pages of he histories. But
these have little or naught to do with
my tale, and I ass them by with the
word you will anticipate: hat in all
the dashes and forays and brushes with
the enemy's foraging parties and out
posts, no British or Tory bullet could
find it's billet in the man who was
enamored of death.
As for my most miserable %entansle-
ment, the lapse of time made 1t neither
better nor worse. nor greatly different;
and there was little in all the skirmish-
ings and %gallopings to beat Off the
bandog OF conscience, or that other and
still t1ercer wild beast of starved love
that gnawed at me day and night.
Though the hope for some easement
would now and then lift its head, was
reminded daily that hope itself was
hopeless; INC when the days length
! ened into weeks and the weeks into
months, bringing no salving for the
double hurt, l knew hat time coul1
only make me love Margery the more;
that there be wounds that heal, anc
others that open afresh at each remem.
hrance of the hand that gave. them.
One grain of comfort l had in al
these dreary weeks. Twas whilst w.
Iwere Quartering in Charlotte, and I hal