hat the fear of retaliation upon the young St. Jermyn, of
whose fate he might have been informed from officers of his own camp,
might have induced him to temporize in the present case, and to grant a
suspension of proceedings against the rebel prisoner. The reply to
Williams's letter accordingly intimated that, for the present, Major
Butler should be held in close custody as a prisoner of war, leaving the
determination of the manner in which he was finally to be disposed of, a
subject for future consideration.

John Ramsay, after the departure of Horse Shoe Robinson for Virginia,
instead of rejoining his regiment, returned to the Fair Forest camp,
where he remained with Williams, until the answer from Cornwallis was
received. The tidings of this answer he undertook to convey to Butler,
and he again set out for his father's house. John felt himself now
regularly enlisted in the service of the prisoner, and having found
means to communicate his present employment to General Sumpter, he
obtained permission to remain in it as long as his assistance was of
value. The service itself was a grateful one to the young trooper: it
accorded with the generosity of his character, and gratified his
personal pride by the trust-worthiness which it implied: but more than
this, it brought him into opportunities of frequent meeting with Mary
Musgrove, who, passionately beloved by the soldier, was not less ardent
than he in her efforts to promote the interest of Butler.

The state of the country did not allow John to be seen in day-time, and
he and Mary had consequently appointed a place of meeting, where in the
shades of night they might commune together on the important subjects of
their secret conspiracy. Night after night they accordingly met at this
spot, and here all their schemes were contrived. Mary sometimes came to
David Ramsay's dwelling, and the old man's counsel was added to that of
the lovers. Christopher Shaw and Allen Musgrove were not ignorant of
what was in contemplation, but it was a piece of necessary policy that
they should appear to be as little connected with the prisoner as
possible. Christopher, therefore, pursued his duties as
assistant-quarter-master or purveyor to the little garrison under
Macdonald's command, with unabated assiduity.

The plan of Butler's escape was John Ramsay's. He had been anxiously
awaiting an opportunity to attempt this enterprise for the last
fortnight, but the difficulty of concerting o