28 The Prize of Skill

It was not the intent of General Wayne, having conferred honour upon me, to let me live a life of leisure. He had been selected by the President for one of the most onerous tasks ever allotted to man—the conquest of savages inhabiting an unbroken wilderness half as large as Europe and the protection of a border a thousand miles long. He was to do this with three thousand raw troops, re-enforced by a few hardy frontiersmen, while the fierce savages, flushed with their great triumph over St. Clair, roamed the forest at will, as elusive as phantoms, but incessantly striking here and there when least expected, and keeping the entire border one line of flame and blood. Such was the work that now lay before Mad Anthony, and I was soon to know that the iron soul of this man, the most daring and sanguine general of the Revolution, sometimes despaired, though it was only for a moment, and none but the officers nearest him knew it.

The Government was weak and its means were small, but it did the best it could, sending troops which, as in the case of St. Clair, were poor, while the Kentucky militia rallied nobly to the common cause. Major Carew had brought a detachment from Kentucky, which he was incessantly drilling, while I was set to work with some of the raw recruits from the East, Osseo standing by, and regarding me with a mixture of amazement and amusement.

It was the third or fourth day after my arrival, and I had my men upon the little parade ground teaching them the sort of open-order tactics we expected to use in our forest campaign, a more flexible discipline than that of armies intended to act against a white enemy in the open country, and despite the perversity of my exceedingly independent troops, I found a very keen pleasure in the task. I had done this often ten or twelve years before, whipping awkward York and Jersey countrymen into shape for combat, and the old work brought back to me the light feelings of former days. I have noticed that there is nothing so effective as a familiar occupation to restore the average frame of mind. Thus I was engrossed in my task, shouting orders at my men, and telling them not to do the things they were doing, when I noticed that Osseo had the company of other spectators. They were Miss Carew, Mr. and Mr. Winchester, Jasper, and a young officer named Lawless, who was much with Jasper and whom I did not like.

I left the men presently and joined the spectators, Miss Carew receiving me with the same unconcerned manner that had marked her before. We talked somewhat of the coming campaign and its prospects, and young Lawless at length commented upon the fact that I was now a drill master.

“I should think of you, Captain Lee,” he said, “in any other rôle than that of a teacher.”

It was a pointed and gross insult, when my history is considered, and I had no doubt then, as I have none now, that Jasper suggested to him this line of conduct. I had expected, situated as I was, to encounter sneering remarks, and I merely replied, though with intentional point:

“There are many of us, Mr. Lawless, who need teachers.”

He said nothing, restrained perhaps by the presence of the ladies, and I was of a mind to let the matter pass, but presently, when he found an opportunity to speak to me in their absence, he said:

“I should resent your insulting remark were you or could you be on an equality with me, but all here know what you are and have been.”

I saw that he was merely a snapping little puppy, set on by the larger dog behind him, Jasper, and I was able to reply quite calmly:

“Then, Mr. Lawless, you should charge that fancied inequality to your good fortune, for if we were to fight I should most certainly kill you. I give you this warning in order that you may not force a quarrel upon me. You can ask Major Lee there if I was not known as the best swordsman in the Continental army, and every frontiersman in Cincinnati will tell you that I am at least as good a shot as there is in the West. I say these things to you not as a boast, but as simple facts, lest you risk your life rashly.”

He turned pale and his under lip whitened. I fancied that he was beginning to find the baiting of the bear not the delicate sport of his hopes. But Jasper hastened to his relief.

“Come away, Lawless,” he said. “I doubt whether you could insult Captain Lee.”

“He could not,” I said with emphasis, “nor could you.”

They turned their backs upon me and swaggered off together; but as I have alluded to the baiting of the bear, I foresaw that more sport of the kind would be attempted, and I was of a mind that those who tried it should suffer. Of a certainty I should not turn the other cheek; I fancy that the authority of the Bible was intended for particular cases, and not for general practice.

As we were leaving the parade ground, the drill being finished, Miss Carew came over to me and said:

“You will, of course, fight that man who insulted you?”

I was surprised at the question, likewise at her emphasis, but I replied that such was not my intent.

“How can you maintain yourself in General Wayne’s army if you do not resent such attacks?” she asked.

“Do you really wish me to retain my position in it?”

“You saved me from the savages, and I would be ungrateful if I did not desire your advancement.”

I think that “gratitude” and “grateful” become at times the most hateful of words; they can stand sponsor for so many things which one would like to credit to another cause; so I could answer only with a shrug of the shoulders, and at this moment Winchester and his lady joined us.

I heard the next day that young Lawless was assailing my reputation with great assiduity, but having no wish to pose as a duellist or to foment broils at a time when union was necessary, I let the matter run for the time being; and I noticed that the officers were soon divided into two camps concerning me—one which gave me the cold shoulder, and the other which received me as a welcome addition. Old Joe Grimes came at this time from one of his scouting expeditions, and the pugnacious borderer, true to his instincts, seemed to think that I had lowered myself greatly by becoming a soldier.

“I thought you were too good for that, Lee,” he said. “Soldiers don’t know anything; and to think of you putting on a uniform! It’s like a chief in a petticoat.”

He shook his head more in sadness than reproach, and would not be pacified; yet he was forced to admit that General Wayne showed some evidence of common sense, and was undertaking his business in a more promising manner than any other general who had come to the West.

Miss Carew was still in the town, and so far as I could learn had no intention of returning soon to Kentucky. It was now said that she purposed to go with Major Carew to our advanced post, Fort Greeneville, far to the north, and noticing the extent of her influence over her father, I was convinced that she could get his permission if, in truth, she wished to go; nor was General Wayne himself, though no longer a young man—which, however, is no bar—at all impervious to the smiles of fair young womanhood, and I felt sure that she could obtain his consent too.

I was certain now that Rose Carew had become what would have been called in the Old World lady of quality; at this little frontier village she reigned a belle, and though there were present many young army officers who knew the best that the society of the East offered, she could call any of them to her feet when she chose. It was evident too that she enjoyed admiration; I do not undertake to say that such a feeling is not natural in a young girl, but it may be carried a trifle far, I think.

Although we were very busy with drill and preparations, there was time for amateur gaieties, and I managed to procure for myself a new uniform, attired in which I sometimes hung upon the outskirts of the festivities and held short converse twice or thrice with Miss Carew. Upon such an occasion I told her that it was my intent to go once more to my old haunts in the East when the present campaign was finished. She gave me an odd look, and then said in a tone that was quite without expression:

“You told me once that you would never go back.”

“I have changed my mind,” I said.

“It is always one’s privilege to do so.”

“I shall come to see you there,” I said boldly.

But she did not answer.

We had target shooting the next day on the hills back of the river, this being a most necessary practice for the recruits from the East, and General Wayne as an incentive had offered some prizes for which all might compete. ’Twas natural, too, in such a small place, that the civilians should come forth to see, and among them were Miss Carew and Mrs. Winchester. Two or three rude benches had been fitted up for these spectators, and the rest of us stood about watching the shooting. Jasper was present, and constituted himself the shadow of Miss Carew, making comment upon the marksmen, not all of which was flattering. I kept aloof, although Winchester and his lady were most friendly and would have me come and talk with them, but I had small fancy for Jasper’s company.

The chief prize was a tiny silver bugle, and of course the ordinary soldiers had no chance whatever to win it in competition with the frontiersmen, although two or three of them entered. Nevertheless, the test excited much interest, and I learned presently that Jasper would make a trial. It was Winchester who informed me, and he added:

“He is sure to win it. Major Lee is a fine shot, and he is anxious to distinguish himself in the presence of the ladies. I don’t know that I like him, and I would beat him if I could. He means to give the prize to Miss Carew.”

His last statement contained suggestion, but I did not accept it, and presently they began to shoot at the targets. As Winchester had foreseen, Jasper soon proved himself superior to the others, but the competition was still open. A test of this kind is always sure to arouse my interest, and I joined the group about the marksmen.

“Why do you not enter, Captain Lee?” asked Mrs. Winchester. “Mr. Winchester has told me marvellous tales of your skill with the rifle.”

“The skill was his once, but he lost it,” said Miss Carew.

I looked steadily at her. I was surprised that she should speak such words, and also that she should speak at all. But I would prove them false, and take from Jasper the pleasure of presenting her the prize, and from her the pleasure of receiving it at his hand. An orderly quickly brought me my rifle, which even as an officer I had not abandoned.

“Then you really have the courage to try?” said Miss Carew as I took the firelock from the man.

“Miss Carew,” I replied in a low voice, for her tone had cut me, “you should be the last to ask me such a question.”

She reddened and for a moment her lip quivered. Then the look of cold pride which she now wore habitually returned, and she said:

“You need not remind me of the past, Captain Lee. I do not speak of it now because I am not able to express to you the greatness of my debt.”

Then she began to talk to Jasper, who had just made a splendid shot, drilling out the centre of a sixpence at forty yards.

“Don’t let him beat you,” whispered Winchester. “The man loves to triumph over anybody, and most of all over you.”

I nodded to him and asked them to move the target back a considerable distance, which being done, I also drilled the centre of a sixpence. Osseo, in the brilliant garb which he always wore in the village, was near me, and he uttered his satisfaction at my shot.

“Lee shoots straight while pretty squaw looks on,” he said.

“Well, Osseo,” I replied, “would not you do your best under the circumstances?”

His eyes twinkled, but he said nothing.

Jasper equalled my shot, and so did old Joe Grimes, whereupon the target was moved back yet farther, and Grimes failed, but both Jasper and I hit it fair and true.

“Your cousin is also a great marksman,” said Miss Carew to me.

“You wish him to win the prize?” I said.

“I wish it to go to the one who deserves it,” she replied.

I may not boast, but the shooting that had been done was really child’s play to me, inasmuch as I had a natural gift for marksmanship, and it had been trained by a lifetime of practice. So I asked one of the soldiers to take a sixpence and toss it in the air at a convenient distance. Jasper frowned at this; and young Lawless, who was near him, said in a low voice something about me, all the words of which I did not catch, but it was of the purport that a man with my history ought not to be allowed in the contest. I saw well that I should have to punish Lawless for insolence, and I made a silent note of the matter.

“Proceed,” I said.

The soldier tossed the sixpence in the air, and I sent a bullet through its centre before it touched the ground. The frontiersmen and the soldiers gave me much applause, and so did Mr. and Mrs. Winchester. Miss Carew made no demonstration. “She thinks that Jasper is beaten,” I said to myself, “and she does not like me any better because it is I who is about to defeat him.”

Jasper made some demur about the test, claiming that it was most unusual, but the officer in charge would not listen to his grumbling. So the sixpence was tossed up a second time; Jasper fired, missed, and the prize was mine.

“You have won,” said Jasper, turning away and shrugging his shoulders, as if that which I had won was not worth the winning.

They gave me the prize, and I, knowing well that it was the custom upon such occasions for the winner to present it to a lady, did not hesitate, as I had made up my mind beforehand. I took the silver trifle and, placing it in the hand of Miss Carew, said:

“Will you accept this from me? Even had my opponent won, I think that it would have come to you.”

“Is that why you offer it to me now?” she asked.

There was, in truth, a question in her voice as well as in her words, and I replied:

“No, I offer it to you because it is mine to offer, and because it is you whom I wish to have it.”

She took the trifle, but with only a word of thanks, and then all of us left the parade ground, the sport being over. I believed that my gift had embarrassed Miss Carew, and I was sure that Jasper, Lawless, and two or three others would insist that I, a man with a black page in his history, should not have had such an opportunity. For that reason I rejoiced at my action.

Winchester escorted the ladies, and as I walked toward my quarters Lawless brushed by me and again made supercilious remarks, half under his breath, which he could claim were or were not meant for me, as he chose. But I did not intend to allow him such latitude, and I seized him by the arm.

He demanded in most indignant tones that I unhand him, but I retained my grasp.

“Mr. Lawless, you have purposely and with malice made yourself offensive to me on two or three occasions,” I said, “and I warn you that its repetition will be dangerous to you. I told you the other day what I could do with weapons. You saw just now my ability with the rifle. Look at that squirrel in the tree across the ravine.”

He looked in spite of himself, and drawing my pistol from my belt, I fired. The squirrel dropped from the tree, dead.

“Now come into the room of Captain Hardy,” I continued, “and I will show you what I can do with the sword.”

As my hand was still upon his arm, there was nothing for him to do but to comply, and Captain Hardy at my request produced two swords.

“Here’s your weapon,” I said, thrusting the hilt of one into his hand while I took the other. “Now touch me if you can; I promise not to hurt you.”

He gave me a look of rage, and thrust at me with the sword, but I caught it upon the blade of my own, and with a twist of the wrist drew it from his grasp. It fell ringing upon the floor.

“Do you wish to try again?” I asked.

He was furious, and, snatching up the weapon, ran at me. But the sword was drawn from his hand a second time, and was thrown against the wall. He made a third attempt, and the result was the same.

“I hope you are now convinced,” I said, “that if you seek a quarrel with me your life is mine to do with as I choose. Do not seek that quarrel, and let us be friends.”

He shook my hand, though with small grace, and hurried off to his quarters.

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