Elsie and Her Loved Ones Page 9
CHAPTER IX
THE children’s bedtime had come and they had gone to their sleepingquarters for the night. Grandma Elsie was holding the new baby whilehaving a bit of chat with its mother; most of the other grown peoplewere enjoying themselves together in the parlor, but Lucilla and herfather were pacing the front porch, as they so often did, while MammaVi put the younger ones to bed.
“Have you had a pleasant time to-day, daughter?” asked the captain.
“Oh, yes, sir,” she replied. “I paid Eva a visit and enjoyed holdingand looking at the darling little newcomer—Baby Mary. I like the name;don’t you, father?”
“Yes, both the name and the one who bears it. What else have you beendoing?”
“Sitting out here with a bit of needlework while Grandma Elsie gaveus some interesting passages from the history of our country inRevolutionary days—of Putnam and his services, and the sad story ofpoor Jane McCrea. I have been thinking, father, that you could give usinteresting facts concerning other actors in the thrilling scenes andexperiences of those dark days for our country.”
“Perhaps so,” he answered, “though I doubt if I should equal mother asa narrator.”
“A doubt I don’t in the least share, father,” laughed Lucilla. “Youalways speak the truth, but are a good story teller for all that.”
“That is in the judgment of my very partial daughter,” the captainresponded, with an amused look and smile. “There are otherRevolutionary heroes,” he continued, “the facts concerning whom wouldmake very interesting tales—Morgan and Schuyler, for instance.”
“And you will tell them to us, father? Oh, that will be fine.”
“And I shall be glad indeed if I can add to the information andenjoyment of my own young people and the others,” he returned. “Evelynhas quite a library here, collected by her father, in which are anumber of encyclopædias and historical works—those of Lossing andothers. I shall refresh my memory in regard to Morgan and Schuyler, andperhaps tell you something of one or both to-morrow evening, shouldmother feel indisposed for such work.”
It was settled at the tea table the next day that the captain was tobe the narrator for the little company for that evening, Grandma Elsiesaying she would greatly prefer being a listener. All gathered abouthim on the front porch directly upon leaving the table, and he beganthe story at once.
“Daniel Morgan was born in New Jersey about 1737. There is little ornothing known of his parents except that he had a pious mother and thathe was of Welsh extraction. When about seventeen years old he went toVirginia, where he worked as a farmer for some years. Early in 1754 heremoved to Charlestown, Va., and the next year he began his militarycareer, going with Braddock’s army in the expedition against Fort duQuesne.
“He seems to have been a teamster, and in the rout did good servicein bringing away the wounded after the defeat. Washington, you willremember, was there as aid-de-camp to Braddock, and doubtless he andMorgan became acquainted then.
“It is said that Morgan was unjustly punished with five hundred lashesfor knocking down a British officer who struck him with the flat of hissword.
“Afterward he was attached to the quartermaster’s department, and hisduty was to haul supplies to the military posts along the frontier.
“About that time, at the head of a few backwoodsmen, he defeated asmall force of Frenchmen and Indians, and received from GovernorDinwiddie an ensign’s commission.
“Afterward, while on his way to Winchester with despatches, he andothers engaged in a fierce woodland fight with the Indians, in whichnearly all Morgan’s companions were killed and he was severelywounded, being shot through the neck with a musket ball. At the momenthe supposed the wound to be fatal—he was almost fainting—but resolvednot to leave his scalp in the hands of the Indians. He fell forwardwith his arms tightly clasped about the neck of his horse, and thoughmists were gathering before his eyes, he spurred away through theforest paths, until his foremost Indian pursuer, finding it impossibleto come up with him, hurled his tomahawk after him with a yell ofbaffled rage and gave up the chase. That was the only wound he everreceived.”
“And it didn’t hinder him from doing great service to his country inthe Revolutionary War,” remarked Eric Leland.
“Some few years later,” continued the captain, “Morgan obtained agrant of land, took to farming and stock-raising, and married afarmer’s daughter, Abigail Bailey, who is said to have been a womanof rare beauty and lofty character. He named his home the ‘Soldier’sRest,’ but was soon called away from it by Pontiac’s war. In that heserved as a lieutenant. He prospered with his farming and acquiredconsiderable property. But the calls to war were frequent. In 1771 hewas commissioned captain of the militia of Frederick County, and twoyears later he served in Lord Dunmore’s war on the frontier.”