The Last Penny and Other StoriesArthur, T. S. (Timothy Shay)
General
The Last Penny and Other Stories
Arthur, T. S. (Timothy Shay)
Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Short stories
About half an hour after her arrival, and while she was urging the
necessity of departing immediately and endeavouring to pass the British
army, a member of the family came home, and stated that he had a few
moments before passed Mink on the road, riding at full speed toward
Rawdon's encampment.
"Then I must go instantly!" said the courageous maiden, starting to her
feet. "If I remain here, all hope of reaching General Sumter with
General Greene's message is at an end; for in less than an hour an
order will come back for my re-arrest, and I will be detained in the
British camp. Let me go, and I will trust to Heaven and my good cause
for safety."
To retain the brave girl, under all the circumstances, was to incur too
great a responsibility. After a hurried consultation, it was decided to
let her proceed under cover of the darkness, but not alone. A fresh
horse was provided, and soon after the news that Mink the tory had
passed on toward the camp of Lord Rawdon was received, Emily,
accompanied by a trusty guide and protector, was galloping swiftly in a
direction opposite to that in which lay the British camp. A few miles
brought her to a road that struck off toward the point on the Wateree
which she was desirous to reach, in a more southerly direction, and
which would take her at a wide angle from the point she most wished to
avoid. Of this road she had not herself known; but her guide, being
familiar with the country, was able to conduct her by the shorter and
safer route.
All night the girl and her companion rode on, at a pace as rapid as the
nature of the road and the darkness rendered safe, and at daylight they
were far away from the neighbourhood of the enemy's camp. As the sun
came up from the east, the guide of Emily, according to instructions,
after minutely describing to her the course she was to take, left her
to pursue the remainder of her journey alone. Without stopping to
refresh either herself or her tired horse, the young heroine pressed
forward, though the heat grew more and more intense every hour, as the
sun swept up toward the zenith. Faint, weary, and almost sick with
fatigue, hunger, and excitement, she was urging on the jaded animal she
rode, when, about three o'clock in the afternoon, in emerging from a
dense wood, she came suddenly on a file of soldiers whose uniform she
knew too well to leave a doubt of their being friends.
"Where will I find General Sumter?" was her first, eager inquiry.
"He is encamped a mile from here."
"Take me to him quickly," she said. "I have a message from General
Greene!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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