Beside the household tasks there were Fairfax Johnson to be cared for, and the little mare to be brought back to condition. Peggy found herself almost happy in assisting in these duties, so true is it that occupation brings solace to sorely tried hearts.
The youth’s illness soon passed, but there remained the necessity for rest and nourishment. Rest he could have in plenty, but they were hard pressed to furnish the proper nourishment. The place had been stripped of almost everything, and had it not been for the grove where a few cows shared Star’s hiding-place, and an adjoining swamp in whose recesses Mrs. Weston had prudently stored some supplies the household must have suffered for the lack of the merest necessities. Still if they could remain unmolested they could bear scanty rations; so cheerfully they performed their daily tasks, praying that things would continue as they were.
If there was peace at the farmhouse it was more than could be said for the rest of the state. Hard on the heels of Lafayette Cornwallis followed, cutting a swath of desolation and ruin. Tarleton and Simcoe rode wherever they would, committing such enormities that the people forgot them only with death. Virginia, the last state of the thirteen to be invaded, was harried as New Jersey had been, but by troops made less merciful by the long, fierce conflict.
Hither and thither flitted Lafayette, too weak to suffer even defeat, progressing ever northward, and drawing his foe after him from tide-water almost to the mountains. Finding it impossible to come up with his youthful adversary, or to prevent the junction of that same adversary’s forces with those of Wayne, Cornwallis turned finally, and leisurely made his way back toward the seacoast. He had profited by Greene’s salutary lesson, and did not propose to be drawn again from a base where reinforcements and supplies could reach him. Information of these happenings gradually reached the farmhouse, filling its inmates with the gravest apprehensions.
One warm, bright afternoon in June Peggy left the house for her daily visit to Star. With the caution that she always used in approaching the hiding-place of her pet the girl reached the grove by a circuitous route. A sort of rude stable, made of branches and underbrush set against ridge poles, had been erected for the pony’s accommodation, and as she drew near this enclosure Peggy heard the voice of some one speaking. Filled with alarm for the safety of her mare she stole softly forward to listen. Yes; there was certainly some one with the animal. As she stood debating what was to be done, she was amazed to hear the following speech made in a wondering tone:
“Now just why should you be down here in Virginia when your proper place is in a stable in Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Star? Hath some magic art whisked you here, or what hath happened? I wish thee could speak, as Peggy would say, so that thee could unravel the matter for me.”
“John! John Drayton!” screamed Peggy joyfully running forward. “How did thee get here? I thought thee was in South Carolina. ’Tis Peggy, John.”
“Peggy?” exclaimed Drayton, issuing from the enclosure. “Peggy! I see it is,” he said regarding her with blank amazement. “But how did you get here? I thought you safe at home in Philadelphia?”
“’Tis a long story,” cried she, half crying. “And oh, John! does thee know that Cornwallis is fast approaching this point with his army? Is’t not dangerous for thee to be here?”
“Nay,” he replied. “I seek his lordship.”