The Hidden Children | Page 9

dim and unreal, that I could scarce realise I had not been
always in the army-- had not always lived from day to day, from hour
to hour, not knowing one night where I should pillow my head the next.
For at nineteen I shouldered my rifle; and now, at Boyd's age, two and

twenty, my shoulder had become so accustomed to its not unpleasant
weight that, at moments, thinking, I realised that I would not know
what to do in the world had I not my officers, my company, and my
rifle to companion me through life.
And herein lies the real danger of all armies and of all soldiering. Only
the strong character and exceptional man is ever fitted for any other life
after the army becomes a closed career to him.
I now remarked as much to Boyd, who frowned, seeming to consider
the matter for the first time.
"Aye," he nodded, "it's true enough, Loskiel. And I for one don't know
what use I could make of the blessings of peace for which we are so
madly fighting, and which we all protest that we desire."
"The blessings of peace might permit you more leisure with the ladies,"
I suggested smilingly. And he threw back his handsome head and
laughed.
"Lord!" he exclaimed. "What chance have I, a poor rifleman, who may
not even wear his hair clubbed and powdered."
Only field and staff now powdered in our corps. I said: "Heaven hasten
your advancement, sir."
"Not that I'd care a fig," he protested, "if I had your yellow, curly head,
you rogue. But with my dark hair unpowdered and uncurled, and no
side locks, I tell you, Loskiel, I earn every kiss that is given me-- or
forgiven. Heigho! Peace would truly be a blessing if she brought
powder and pretty clothing to a crop-head, buck-skinned devil like me."
We were now riding through a country which had become uneven and
somewhat higher. A vast wooded hill lay on our left; the Bedford
highway skirted it. On our right ran a stream, and there was some
swampy land which followed. Rock outcrops became more frequent,
and the hard-wood growth of oak, hickory and chestnut seemed heavier
and more extensive than in Bedford town. But there were orchards; the

soil seemed to be fertile and the farms thrifty, and it was a pleasant land
save for the ominous stillness over all and the grass-grown highway.
Roads and lanes, paths and pastures remained utterly deserted of man
and beast.
This, if our map misled us not, should be the edges of the town of
Poundridge; and within a mile or so more we began to see a house here
and there. These farms became more frequent as we advanced. After a
few moments' riding we saw the first cattle that we had seen in many
days. And now we began to find this part of the Westchester country
very different, as we drew nearer to the village, for here and there we
saw sheep feeding in the distance, and men mowing who leaned on
their scythes to see us pass, and even saluted us from afar.
It seemed as though a sense of security reigned here, though nobody
failed to mark our passing or even to anticipate it from far off. But
nobody appeared to be afraid of us, and we concluded that the near
vicinity of Colonel Sheldon's Horse accounted for what we saw.
It was pleasant to see women spinning beside windows in which
flowers bloomed, and children gazing shyly at us from behind stone
walls and palings. Also, in barnyards we saw fowls, which was more
than we had seen West of us-- and now and again a family cat dozing
on some doorstep freshly swept.
"I had forgotten there was such calm and peace in the world," said
Boyd. "And the women look not unkindly on us-- do you think,
Loskiel?"
But I was intent on watching a parcel of white ducks leaving a little
pond, all walking a-row and quacking, and wriggling their fat tails.
How absurd a thing to suddenly close my throat so that I could not find
my voice to answer Boyd; for ever before me grew the almost forgotten
vision of Guy Park, and of our white waterfowl on the river behind the
house, where I had seen them so often from my chamber window
leaving the water's edge at sundown.
A mile outside the town a leather-helmeted dragoon barred our way,

but we soon satisfied him.
We passed by the Northwest road, crossed the Stamford highway, and,
consulting our map, turned back and entered it, riding south through the
village.
Here a few village folk were abroad; half a dozen of Sheldon's
dragoons lounged outside the tavern, to the rail