Horse-Shoe Robinson: A Tale of the Tory AscendencyKennedy, John Pendleton
History
Horse-Shoe Robinson: A Tale of the Tory Ascendency
Kennedy, John Pendleton
South Carolina -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Fiction
Whilst the sergeant was deliberating over these arrangements, the
prisoners were allowed to shelter themselves from the rain under a shed
near the door of the dwelling, where Andrew, with all the pride and
importance of his new station, marched to and fro, before them, like a
trained sentinel. There was a small log building in the yard of Ramsay's
mansion, which had been recently erected as a store-house, and which
being well secured at the door by a padlock, Robinson determined to
convert for the nonce into a prison. It contained but one room, not
above twelve feet square, with an earthen floor, and received no light
except such as was admitted under the door, and through a few crannies
about the roof. Into this narrow apartment the soldiers were now
marched; a bundle of straw was thrown upon the floor; sundry flitches of
bacon, that hung upon the walls, were removed; and a few comforts, in
the way of food and drink, were supplied to render the accommodation as
tolerable to the inmates as was compatible with their safe custody. This
being done, our friend Andrew was posted in the passage-way of the
dwelling, in full view of the door of the store-house, which was
carefully locked, with a musket in his hand, and with orders to make a
circuit every five minutes round the little building, to guard against
any attempts at escape by under-mining the foundation.
As noon approached the weather began to clear up, and with the first
breaking forth of the sun came David Ramsay, the proprietor of the farm
which was the scene of the present operations. His recognition of Horse
Shoe Robinson was accompanied by a hearty greeting, and with an
expression of wonder that he should have ventured, in hostile guise,
through a country so beset as this was by the forces of the enemy; but
when he heard the narrative of the exploit of the morning, and saw the
trophies of its success in the weapons piled against the wall, and, more
especially, when he received from the lips of his wife a circumstantial
account of the part which had been performed in this adventure by his
son Andrew, his delight seemed almost to be absorbed by his astonishment
and incredulity. The proofs, however, were all around him; and after
assuring himself, by an actual inspection of the prisoners through one
of the chinks of the store-house, he came into his own parlour, sat
down, and laughed out-right.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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