274 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



St'pt ember 



Of Tarletou aufi his men, and accoraiug- 

 Jy she had a diuuer soon ready fit for a 

 king, and surely far too good for sufli 

 a cruel and bloodthirsty man as Tinle- 

 ton soon wa= kuown to be. 



When the colonel and his staff were 

 summoned to the diniug room, tlipv sat 

 down to a table which fairly gro;;ued 

 beneath the good things heaped uprju 

 it. It was such a dinner as only the 

 South Carolina matrons knew how to 

 prepare, and the men soon became jo- 

 vial untlerits influences. " We shall have 

 few sober men by morning." said a cap- 

 tain, "if this is the way we are to be 

 treated. I suppose when this little war 

 is over all this country will be divided 

 among the soldiers. Eh, colonel?" 



"Undoubtedly the officers will occu- 

 py large portions of the country," re- 

 plied Tarletou. 



"Yes, I know just how much the}'' 

 will each occupy, " said Mrs. 81ocumb, 

 unable to maintain silence longer. 



"And how much will that be, mad- 

 am?" inquired Tarleton, bowing low. 



"Sis feet two. " 



The colouel's face again flushed with 

 anger as \w replied, "Excuse me, but I 

 shall endeavor to have this very planta- 

 tion made over to me as a ducal seat. " 



"I have a husband, whom you seem 

 to forget, and I can assure you he is not 

 the man to allow even the king himself 

 to have a quiet seat on his ground. " 



But the conversation suddenly was 

 interrupted by the sounds of firing. 



"Some straggling scout running 

 away,' said one of the men, not quite 

 ■willing to l^ave the table. 



"No, sir. Ther? are rifles there, and a 

 gooa many of them, too," said TarletOu, 

 risingquickly and rushing to the piazza, 

 an example which all, iucludiug Mrs. 

 Slocumb, at once fcllowed. She was 

 trembling uov,-, for she felt assured that 

 she could explain the cause of the com- 

 motion. 



"May I ask, madam," said Tarletou, 

 turning to her as soon as he had given 

 his oi-ders tor the action of the troops, 

 "whether any of Washington's forces 

 are in this nughborhood or not?" 



" You must kuow that General Green 

 and the marquis are in South Carolina, 

 and I have no doubt you would be 

 pleased to see Lee once more. He shook 

 your hand very warmly the last time he 

 met you, 1 am told." 



An oatj escaped the angry colonel's 

 lips, and he glanced for a moment at 

 the scar which tiie wound Lee had made 

 had left on his hand, but he turned 

 abruptly and ordered the troops to form 

 on the right, and he dashed down the 

 lawn. 



A shout and the sound of firearms 

 drew the attention of Mrs. Slocumb to 

 the long avenue that led to the house. 

 A cry e.scaped her at the sight, for 

 there was her husband, followed by two 

 of her neighbors, pursuing on horseback 

 a band of five Tories whom Tarlet 

 had sent to scour the country. 



On and on they came, and it was evi- 

 dent that the pursuers were too bu.sy tfl 

 have noticed the army of Tarleton, 

 Broadswords and various kinds of wea- 

 pons were flashing in the air, and i) 

 was plain that the enraged Slocumb saw 

 nothing but the Tories he was pursuing 

 Could nothing be done? Would they ruu 

 into the very heart of the camp? Mrs. 

 Slocumb tried to scream and warn her 

 husband, but not a sound could she 

 make. One of the Tories had just fallen, 

 when she saw her husband's horse sud- 

 denly stop and swerve to one side. What 

 was the cause? 



Sambo, the slave whom Mrs. Slo- 

 cumb had dispatched, as soon as Tarle- 

 ton had come, to warii her husband, 

 had started promptly on his errand, but 

 the bright coats of the British had sO 

 charmed him that he had lingered about 

 the place, and when the sound of the 

 guns was heard Sambo had gone only 

 as far as the hedgerow that lined the 

 avenue. Discretion became the better 

 part of valor then, and the negro in his 

 fear had crawled beneath it for shelter, 

 but when his frightened face beheld his 

 master appu aching he had mustered 

 courage encu-gh to crawl forth from his 

 hiding place and startle the horses as 

 they pas.sed. 



"Hoi on, massa! Hoi on!" he shout- 

 ed. 



Recognizing the voice, Slocumb and 

 his followers tor the fiist time stopped 

 and glanced about them. Off to their 

 left were 1,000 meu within pistol shot. 

 As they wheeled their horses they saw 

 a body of Lorstmtu leaping the hedge 

 and already in their rear. Quickly 

 wheeling again they started directly for 

 the house, near which . the guard had 

 been stationeu. On they swept, and, 



