AN-ISLAND 
 HEROINE BY 
 
 MAPY-B-SLEIGHT
 
 I VE BEEN DYEING FOR MY COUNTRY. LODOWICK, SAID MARGARET
 
 AN ISLAND HEROINE 
 
 THE STORY OF A DAUGHTER OF 
 THE REVOLUTION 
 
 MARY BRKCK SLEIGHT 
 
 AUTHOR OF "PRAIRIE DAYS," "FLAG ON THE MILL," "THE KNIGHTS OF 
 SANDY HOLLOW," ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE FOSTER BARNES 
 
 BOSTON 
 LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1898, 
 
 BY 
 
 LOTHROI- PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 TYPOGRAPHY BY C. J. PETERS & SON, 
 BOSTON.
 
 TO 
 
 2TIjc Scsccntiants of tljc Hong Eslanti patriots 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 Cfjts Booft 
 
 IS INSCRIBED AND DEDICATED BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR.
 
 We see human heroism broken into units, and say this unit diil little 
 might as well not hare been. Jliit in this way we might break up a great 
 army into units. Let us rather raise a monument to the soltlicrs whose brave 
 hearts only kept the ranks unbroken, and met death a monument to the 
 faithful who were not famous, and who are precious as llie continuity of the 
 sunbeams is preeious though some of them fall unseen, and on barrenness. 
 
 The history of those seven years sufferings will ne- er be told. 
 
 HRXKY P. HEDGES. 
 
 " These are deeds that should not pass awciv, 
 And names that must not witlter, though the earth 
 Forgets her empires witii a just decay.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IN " An Island Heroine" the author has aimed to tell, 
 as simply as possible, and without the help of any 
 sensational element, the story of the courage and patriot 
 ism of the " East End" people during the occupation of 
 Lang Island by the British, in the Revolutionary War, 
 not only of those who went forth to battle, but of those 
 who in village and hamlet and farmhouse, forced by cir 
 cumstances to remain at home, toiled and endured and 
 waited with a heroism that has rarely been excelled. 
 
 "The history of those seven years suffering," said 
 the lion. Henry P. Hedges, in an address at the 2OOth 
 anniversary of Easthampton, L.I., " will never be told." 
 These words, chancing to come to the author s notice 
 more than two decades after they were first uttered, 
 aroused the feeling that there should be at least an at 
 tempt made to gather up and put into accessible shape 
 the scattered records of those heroic times, in order that 
 the descendants of the Long Island patriots might know 
 of what stuff their ancestors were made, and, also, that 
 honor might be given where honor is due. 
 
 It has been a labor of love ; and, however imperfectly 
 the story is told, no pains have been spared to make it 
 
 historically accurate. 
 
 M. B. s. 
 
 SAG HARBOR, LONG ISLAND, N.Y. 
 April 19, 1898. 
 
 5
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. SWEETHEART 9 
 
 * II. A FAIR YOUNG REBEL 15 
 
 III. PRO PATRIA 27 
 
 IV. A\ ABSORBING TOPIC 34 
 
 V. THE MEADOWS 39 
 
 VI. LORD LION 54 
 
 VII. A UNANIMOUS VOTE 65 
 
 VIII. WAR 71 
 
 IX. P.UNKER llll.l Si 
 
 X. DEFENCELESS 100 
 
 XI. AN EMBARGO 114 
 
 XII. A MOONLIGHT WALK 123 
 
 XIII. AN UNEXPECTED PRIZE 133 
 
 XIV. A BRAVE DEFENCE 138 
 
 XV. THE DECLARATION 154 
 
 XVI. WHAT NEWS? 162 
 
 XVII. DOOMED 174 
 
 XVIII. EXILED 180 
 
 XIX. A SOLDIER S BRIDE 189 
 
 XX. A HAPPY CONFESSION 193 
 
 XXI. IN THE FIELD 206 
 
 XXII. A PRICELESS Kiss 210 
 
 XXIII. A WELCOME GUEST 217 
 
 XXIV. A WANDERING RUMOR 226 
 
 7
 
 8 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXV. A DISCOVERY 233 
 
 XXVI. A FAMOUS VICTORY 237 
 
 XXVII. MORE RUMORS 241 
 
 XXVIII. A LETTER 247 
 
 XXIX. THE ENEMY AT THE DOOR 254 
 
 XXX. A TEMPTING PROPOSITION 261 
 
 XXXI. A RUTHLESS SWORD-THRUST 268 
 
 XXXII. A BRAVE SHEPHERDESS 272 
 
 XXXIII. IN HIDING 282 
 
 XXXIV. A GENUINE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN 290 
 
 XXXV. A MAY DAY IDYI 295 
 
 XXXVI. THE YOUNG MAJOR 302 
 
 XXX VII. GOLDEN FLEECE ... 313 
 
 XXXVIII. A HOPELESS QUEST 321 
 
 XXXIX. DUNGEONS OF DESPAIR 325 
 
 XL. THE PRISONER S STORY 331 
 
 XLI. RESCUED 336 
 
 XLII. A BRAVE CHAMPION 344 
 
 XLI 1 1. A DARK DAY 348 
 
 XLIV. MISSING 358 
 
 XLV. A GALA DAY 360 
 
 XLVI. TRAITOR AND SPY 368 
 
 XIATI. A WOUNDED ENEMY 371 
 
 XLVIII. A BLACK CLOUD 384 
 
 XLIX. SURRENDERED 391 
 
 L. A BELATED FISHERMAN 395 
 
 LI. ANOTHER CARTEI 40^ 
 
 LII. AN HEROIC SACRIFICE 41 2 
 
 L1II. PEACE . /no
 
 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 
 
 SWEETHEART. 
 
 IT was almost sundown, and the waning light stream 
 ing soft and ruddy across the level landscape made 
 wavering lines of gold on the long arms of the wind 
 mills, and turned to mammoth rubies the shallow goose- 
 ponds that in their setting of gray sedge studded the 
 centre of the village street. 
 
 Except for the sound of an axe now and then from 
 some of the wayside woodpiles, the place was as silent 
 as a churchyard ; but from behind the sand-dunes came 
 the steady beat of the surf and a murmuring wind moist 
 with the breath of the sea. 
 
 The street had the generous proportions of an ave 
 nue, being from ten to sixteen rods in width, for the 
 " fathers " that planned it had the entire breadth of the 
 peninsula at their disposal ; and, wiser in their day and 
 generation than some of the fathers of later times, they 
 were not disposed to be chary of their land. It was, in 
 fact, a part of the great thoroughfare that ran from the 
 
 9
 
 10 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 town of Brooklyn to the meadows of Montauk ; but it 
 was so little travelled that in summer it was as green as 
 a common, and the village geese so monopolized the 
 right of way that wagons were often obliged to wait for 
 the quacking flocks to waddle aside. 
 
 The forefathers were also wise in their appreciation 
 of " sweetness and light; " and with a view to utilizing 
 the sunshine they had adhered strictly to the custom of 
 making their houses face the south, even though, as 
 sometimes happened, it forced the house to turn its 
 back to the street. The high peaked roof shortened, 
 in many cases, in front sufficiently to give space for the 
 upper windows to be of the same size as those below 
 sloped down behind in easy gradations to the woodshed, 
 and afforded, no doubt, to the old-time boy a way of 
 descent much more to his mind than the safer staircase. 
 
 Most of the dwellings were plain, farmhouse-like 
 structures, with a marked family resemblance, having 
 been modelled after the venerated New England home 
 steads from which the East End people had emigrated ; 
 and the interiors, with the exception of the elaborate 
 panel-work that formed the wainscoting, were usually 
 as plain as the outside. The chimney occupied more 
 than half the side of the keeping-room, and the high 
 mantel-piece above the fireplace boasted little in the way 
 of bric-a-brac beyond a few sea-shells and peacock 
 feathers ; the books were limited, except in rare in 
 stances, to a handful of standard religious works, and 
 the pictures that decorated the whitewashed walls were 
 confined to Scriptural scenes.
 
 SWEETHEART. I I 
 
 Near the front door loomed the woodpile. This loca 
 tion was chosen originally for the facilities it offered as 
 an outlook for the approach of an enemy ; and, though 
 danger of that sort had long ceased to be apprehended, 
 the boys who on Saturday afternoon made the chips fly 
 would have felt themselves defrauded of their rights 
 
 O 
 
 had the woodpile been relegated to the back yard, for 
 to be able to look the entire length of the street and see 
 a dozen other axes in motion turned the task into a pas 
 time ; and there was hardly one of them that did not, 
 under the circumstances, prefer splitting wood to pound 
 ing samp, for the samp-mortar a great log hollowed 
 out at one end, with a huge pestle, like a bucket on a 
 well-sweep, hanging over it was generally inside the 
 yard, and afforded one no chance for sociability with 
 passers-by. At the back of the house was the vegeta 
 ble-garden, and, adjoining it, a small patch of tobacco 
 for home consumption ; for the forefathers, as a rule, 
 were smokers, and in every chimney there was a little 
 stock-hole over the fireplace for the master s pipe. 
 
 In most cases the house, as well as the barn, stood 
 flush with the street, but here and there was one set 
 far enough back to admit of a small porch, with a space 
 of six or eight feet between the porch and the gate ; 
 and now and then there was one that bore the distinc 
 tion of having been remodelled from the original prim 
 pattern into something more in keeping with the times. 
 
 To the latter class belonged the Thurston homestead. 
 It was a cheerful looking house, standing somewhat 
 apart from its neighbors at the upper end of the village,
 
 12 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 and, as the glow in the west deepened, its gray front 
 took on a warm rich pink, and the diamond-shaped 
 window-panes in their leaded sashes blazed as if illumi 
 nated for a victory. 
 
 The light was at its ruddiest when from the latticed 
 porch a girl darted out like a humming-bird, and flew 
 down the narrow walk that, between low hedges of 
 privet, led to the gate. A cloak of fine red cloth, reach 
 ing almost to the hem of her gown, served to emphasize 
 the height of the slender figure ; and the quilted hood, 
 with its delicate blue lining, framed a face fair enough 
 to be that of " the daughter of a hundred earls." 
 Though the day had been spring-like, with the going 
 down of the sun the air had become quite cold enough 
 to make a thick wrap necessary ; but when the wind, 
 sweeping up between the sand-dunes, blew back the 
 cloak, it showed that the garment was worn for some 
 thing besides the warmth it gave. The wearer pulled 
 it closer, and from the shadow of the outer hedge peered 
 cautiously toward the house. 
 
 Presently an old man in Qjiaker dress came out. 
 
 " Oh, make haste, grandpa," urged the girl, spring 
 ing from her covert and catching his hand as he closed 
 the gate. " If Aunt Prudence should guess what we re 
 up to, twould spoil everything." 
 
 "Thy Aunt Prudence is a just woman, Margaret; 
 she would not take that which is not hers," said the 
 old man, in his quiet Quaker voice, at the same time 
 quickening his pace to keep in step with the impatient 
 young feet.
 
 SWEETHEART. 13 
 
 "But she is a Tory, grandpa. She teaches her 
 parrot to cheer for King George, and she might per 
 haps think that being a loyal subject she had the better 
 right to it." 
 
 " And what is it, pray, that a loyal subject has a 
 better right to?" asked a vigorous voice behind them. 
 
 The girl threw a swift glance over her shoulder. 
 
 " Lodowick ! " she cried. "Oh, I m so glad it s no 
 one but you." 
 
 "You have not answered my question, sweetheart," 
 said the young man, looking down from his " six feet 
 two " with a grave smile at her earnest face. 
 
 But she shook her head, and, holding her cloak to 
 gether with a firmer grip against the unmannerly wind, 
 hurried on in silence until they reached the pond at the 
 west end of the village, a narrow, lagoon-like bit of 
 water, which a glittering sand-bar divided from the sea. 
 A small rowboat was drawn up on the shore, and the 
 girl stepped hastily in. 
 
 " Come, grandpa," she said, quickly, as she cast off 
 the painter. But the old man drew back. 
 
 " Now that thou hast Lodowick to go with thee, I will 
 wait here." And he seated himself composedly on a 
 whitened log half buried in the sand on the edge of the 
 pond ; the log at one end was split wide apart, and had 
 so close a resemblance to a pair of huge jaws, that it 
 went by the name of the "Shark s Head." 
 
 A sudden gust at the moment whisked open the girl s 
 cloak, and revealed a small chest hugged to her side. 
 
 "What! a funeral?" asked Lodowick, putting the
 
 14 4N ISLAND HEROINE: 
 
 oars into the tholes. "Which is it Old Poll or the 
 white kitten?" 
 
 "Indeed, Lodowick, it is not a matter for jesting," 
 she answered, with so much seriousness that he had to 
 smile again. "It s oh, make haste! Here comes 
 Aunt Prudence." 
 
 And Lodowick at once fell lustily to rowing.
 
 A FAIR YOUNG REBEL I 5 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A FAIR YOUNG REBEL. 
 
 A ND now, sweetheart," said the young man, pulling 
 -TTL more moderately at the oars, "since Mistress 
 Prudence is out of hearing, and can neither wade nor 
 swim to overtake us, pray tell what all this is about." 
 
 "What, haven t you heard, Lodowick? We had the 
 news to-day in a letter from Grandmother Neale, who 
 lives in Lynn. But it was weeks on the way, and it 
 vexes me that we didn t know it sooner." 
 
 "But what is it that has happened in Lynn?" he 
 asked, beginning to suspect what the news might be. 
 
 "Oh, it was in Boston that it happened; but the 
 Lynn people are all in sympathy with the Bay Colony. 
 It was the tea-tax that made the trouble. Ah, but they 
 were brave ! Why, they wouldn t let the ships that 
 brought the tea come into the harbor, and some of the 
 men went on board and broke open the chests and 
 emptied them into the water. I wish I had been there 
 to help them, for England has no right tax us." 
 
 "What a hot little rebel it is!" laughed Lodowick, 
 with the oars lying idle in the tholes. 
 
 " Yes, I am a rebel, Lodowick, and I am not 
 ashamed to own it. Grandpa is one, too, and we are
 
 1 6 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 not going to use any more tea while the tax is on. 
 Uncle Erastus sent us two chests last summer, that is, 
 he sent them to grandpa, and Aunt Prudence has been 
 using it whenever we had company, it is so much bet 
 ter, of course, than sage and currant leaves ; but when 
 this news came, grandpa, though he is very fond of a 
 cup of good tea, said he would drink no more of it, so 
 I asked him to let me follow Boston s example and throw 
 it overboard. In the house it might, perhaps, have been 
 a temptation," she added, with a fleeting dimple. 
 
 "And did your Aunt Prudence know what you were 
 intending to do with it?" asked Lodowick, wishing that 
 the dimple would come again. 
 
 "Indeed she didn t. But she may have missed it by 
 this time; for she has Miss Mehitable Hand and old 
 Mrs. Miller spending the afternoon with her, and there 
 isn t a teaspoonful left in the other chest. Hark ! She 
 is calling to us. O Lodowick, please make haste." 
 
 At that Lodowick, with a few swift strokes, brought 
 the boat well up on the sandy bar, and as the girl, spring 
 ing out, ran to the other side and emptied the chest into 
 the sea, his eyes followed her with grave tenderness. 
 
 "Sweetheart! may she never have to make any 
 weightier sacrifice for her country," he sighed. And 
 when she came back he helped her in without speaking, 
 for his heart was heavy with forebodings. But she did 
 not notice his silence. 
 
 "There! she said, putting the empty box into the 
 locker, "if Aunt Prudence wants that she is welcome 
 to it."
 
 A FAIR YOUNG REBEL. I/ 
 
 Fortunately, before they landed Mistress Prudence 
 had started for the house ; and the two men, in no haste 
 to overtake her, fell to discussing the recent news, with 
 the girl in her red cloak walking demurely between 
 them. 
 
 " It was a brave stand for Boston to take," said Lo- 
 dowick Brewster, who had heard the story before join 
 ing them, " and every right-minded American will 
 approve of it. The whole country is aroused, and 
 England will find that the people of Boston are not the 
 only rebels." 
 
 "Rebels!" repeated the old man slowly. "The 
 word is not to my liking, Lodowick. England is our 
 mother, and a good mother in most ways." 
 
 " But like many another mother, she forgets that her 
 children have any rights that she is bound to respect," 
 said the young man. " She reminds me of my sister 
 Debby s speckled hen ; she sets all her brood to scratch 
 ing, and the minute one of them finds a fine fat worm, 
 she pounces on it herself. England will be good to us 
 so long as we acknowledge her sovereign right to help 
 herself to what she likes, and no longer." 
 
 "She is missing her opportunity," said the old man, 
 shaking his head. "She is alienating when she might 
 conciliate, and it grieves me. England has always been 
 dear to me. It was my mother s birthplace, and when a 
 lad I was sent there to be educated. It is a noble land, 
 Lodowick ; and I had hoped to be able some time to take 
 Margaret to visit the ancient manor where I spent my 
 boyhood."
 
 1 8 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "But I shouldn t care to go, grandpa, until England 
 learns to treat us with proper respect," said Margaret 
 quickly. "Who knows," and a dimple came and went, 
 " but she might put a tax on me if she found that I was 
 a foreign production ? " 
 
 "She would be more likely to appropriate you, I m 
 afraid, if you wore that cloak," said Lodowick, with a 
 smile in his gray eyes. "It is the royal color, sweet 
 heart." 
 
 The girl whisked off the cloak, and in a twinkle it 
 was changed from brilliant scarlet to hodden-gray. 
 
 "Thou art but a turncoat now, child," said her grand 
 father grimly. " Twere better to be an honest redcoat 
 than that." 
 
 " I will be neither," answered the girl, bridling. " I 
 am an American, and I am going to be true to my 
 country." 
 
 "That is well said, little one. In times like these it 
 behooves us all to remember that we are Americans." 
 
 "Aye, and to rejoice in it," added Brewster. 
 
 Just then Ben Thurston, Margaret s cousin, hove in 
 sight. lie was a year or two younger than Margaret, 
 and half a head shorter, with a mass of curly red hair 
 flaming above his freckled face. 
 
 " Hurry up, Meg," he called ; " mother wants to know 
 where the tea-chest is." 
 
 " In the locker of the rowboat," promptly answered 
 Meg. " I thought it might serve for a scoop." 
 
 "But where s the tea? It s the tea she wants, and not 
 the chest."
 
 A PAIR YOUNG REBEL. 19 
 
 Margaret hesitated not quite sure of Ben s loyalty. 
 
 "It has gone to give the mermaids a tea-drinking, 
 Ben," Brewster volunteered. 
 
 " Say, rather, we have sent it back to England, 
 Loclowick," protested the girl, her brown eyes flashing. 
 
 " Whew ! " whistled Ben. " But won t you catch it, 
 Meg ! Glad I didn t have a hand in it." 
 
 "And thou needst have nothing to do about it now, 
 Benjamin," said her grandfather. "Margaret had per 
 mission to do it, and I will explain it to her aunt." 
 
 The young fellow thanked him heartily. " It ll save 
 me from hearing Meg scolded," he said. " But what a 
 waste, Meg," he added, putting himself in step with the 
 girl, who had fallen a little behind the others. " It was 
 prime tea ; and as long as it was a present, who cares for 
 the tax?" 
 
 "If you had a grain of patriotism, Ben, you wouldn t 
 ask that. Every true American cares, no matter whether 
 he himself has to pay the tax or somebody else ; for in 
 putting a tax on the tea, the English mean us to under 
 stand that they have a right to tax whatever they 
 please." 
 
 " Ma, Meg, if you were a man the colonies d be send 
 ing you to Congress. But you d better look out, talking 
 that way, or you ll be taken for a rebel. Say, what you 
 got your cloak on wrong side out for? " 
 
 "Because it s the enemy s color," answered the girl, 
 her eyes flashing again; "and if being loyal to my 
 native lan^l makes me a rebel, that s what I am, and, 
 I m not ashamed to own it, Ben."
 
 20 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Ben s only response to this was another whistle. 
 
 But, though brave enough to defy King George and 
 his troops, the girl, on reaching the house, had hardly 
 the courage to face her Aunt Prudence ; and leaving her 
 grandfather to make peace with the offended powers, 
 she fled up to her room. 
 
 " If grandpa shoulders the responsibility, it will be 
 all right," she said to herself; " but I m glad the tea is 
 where it is, even if I have to be taken to task." 
 
 She had unfastened her cloak ; and as it slipped to the 
 floor, she caught it up with a quick-drawn sigh. 
 
 " It s a pity," she said, smoothing it down with a slim 
 brown hand; "but I m not going to give grandpa, nor 
 any one else, another chance to call me a turncoat. 1 
 And snatching a pair of scissors from the little dressing- 
 table, she began ripping the cloak apart. 
 
 " There, redcoat," she apostrophized, holding at arm s 
 length the soft bright fabric that had given the cloak 
 its beauty, "to-morrow you go into the dye-pot. Oh, 
 but it is a pity," she went on, her eyes suddenly tilling 
 with tears, "you were so pretty, so warm and cheerful 
 looking, and Lodowick always liked you in spite of his 
 teasing. But it can t be helped. An American has no 
 right to wear the enemy s colors." 
 
 As she folded the cloth a muffled voice came up the 
 stairway. 
 
 " Meg ! come down. Supper s all ready, and no signs 
 of a tempest. Grandpa s poured oil on the waters, and 
 we re going to have currant tea." 
 
 The girl hastily smoothed her hair.
 
 A FAIR YOUNG REBEL. 21 
 
 "Are you sure Aunt Prudence isn t angry, Ben?" 
 she asked in a whisper. 
 
 "Not enough to mind. To be sure, it was a great 
 waste ; but if grandpa wanted to dispose of it in that 
 way, nobody s any right to find fault." 
 
 The company, Miss Mehitable Hand and old Mrs. 
 Miller, were already seated at the table when Margaret 
 entered, and no comment was made on her tardiness ; 
 even though she caught a threatening glint from her 
 aunt s black eyes, she knew that, for the present, there 
 was nothing to fear. Prudence, who was a famous 
 cook, felt a housewife s pride in serving her guests ; 
 and after that one withering glance she left Margaret 
 to herself. And Margaret was very glad, for her walk 
 had sharpened her appetite. A generous dish of ham 
 and eggs, samp porridge steaming hot from the great 
 kettle on the crane, brown bread and buttermilk bis 
 cuits, with beach-plum sauce, doughnuts and pumpkin 
 cake, composed the bill of fare ; and though the cur 
 rant-leaf tea lacked the fine flavor of hyson, it seemed 
 none the less potent to set tongues agoing. 
 
 The visitors had not yet heard the latest news from 
 the Bay Colony ; and Margaret, though longing to en 
 lighten them, held her peace, feeling that just then it 
 was not a safe subject to broach. But she had dutifully 
 read her grandmother s letter to her Aunt Prudence ; 
 and the latter, who before supper had been too intent 
 on preparing the feast to take time to chat with her 
 guests, had scarcely finished pouring the non-imported 
 beverage when she began to rehearse the story.
 
 22 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Mother Miller and Miss Mehitable listened with star 
 tled faces. 
 
 "Yes, and there arc people who see lit to call it a 
 brave deed," Mistress Prudence continued; "but I call 
 it not only a reckless defiance of those in authority, but 
 a downright insult to our good King George III. ; and if 
 trouble comes of it, Boston will have nobody but herself 
 to thank. And to think of all that choice tea wasted I 
 Over three hundred chests ! If they didn t want it in 
 Boston, why didn t they let it be taken somewhere else? 
 To New York? or to Philadelphia? Either one of them, 
 I imagine, would have been glad to have it." 
 
 "Nay, Prudence ; .thou art wrong there," said her 
 father-in-law. "New York and Philadelphia are not 
 less brave than Boston ; for, without waiting for Boston 
 to set them the example, they passed resolutions to send 
 the tea-ships back to London with their cargoes." 
 
 "Well, they ll repent it, mark my word. The Brit 
 ish government isn t going to let an insult like that pass 
 unnoticed." 
 
 " Well, I don know, Prudence," ventured Miss Hitty, 
 "seems to me what St. Paul says to the fathers about 
 provoking their children to wrath is good advice for the 
 mothers too. Mother England hasn t been over careful 
 about provoking the colonies." 
 
 "That is true, Mehitable," said the old Quaker; 
 " and this tax on tea is the crowning provocation. Still, 
 the intent was, evidently, to pacify rather than provoke ; 
 and I doubt not that when she finds on what ground the 
 people are so strenuously opposed to it, she will repeal it."
 
 A t-^JR YOUNG REBEL. 23 
 
 "And until she does, I think we shall be quite content 
 to drink our native tea, especially when it is as good as 
 this, Prudence," said Mrs. Miller, with a smile. "If 
 you please," she added, passing her cup. 
 
 "Now, Phebe Miller, you needn t pretend that you 
 like it, protested Prudence. "It is nothing but a make- 
 believe at best, and it s a shame that we have to offer 
 the vile stuff to our friends. If any of the genuine 
 article could be had for love or money this side of the 
 >ound, I d have it, I can tell you, tax or no tax." And 
 the black eyes shot another baleful glance at Mar 
 garet. 
 
 But the girl was listening to her grandfather. 
 
 "It were better to give a friend a cup of cold water 
 only than to lay a tax on his conscience," he was say 
 ing ; " and we must remember that those who made this 
 sacrifice, and put the luxury beyond our reach, have 
 done it because they believed it right." 
 
 Madge beamed on him gratefully, well knowing that 
 this gentle defence was not meant solely for the good 
 people of Boston. 
 
 "Margaret, hand the doughnuts," said her aunt stiffly. 
 
 "Your doughnuts, Prudence, go ahead of mine," 
 said Miss Hitty, breaking open one of the puffy balls 
 with the feeling that she was on safer ground. 
 
 " They go ahead of every one s, I think," said Mar 
 garet honestly. "Just try one, Mrs. Miller." 
 
 " Oh, I know them of old," responded Mother Miller. 
 " Prudence is a rare hand at compounding good things." 
 And having edged away from the danger line, every
 
 24 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 one took good care during the remainder of the meal 
 to keep clear of it. 
 
 They had but just risen from the table when Ben, 
 coming in from the porch, remarked that it was begin 
 ning to rain. 
 
 " Then we d better be going," said Mrs. Miller," who 
 had been asking Prudence for her recipe for pumpkin 
 cake; " it won t do for my old bones to be out in the 
 wet." 
 
 "It s too bad for you to have to hurry off so," said 
 the hostess, leading the way to the parlor, where, on the 
 plump feather-bed, with its gay counterpane, the visitors 
 hoods and cloaks had been deposited; "but there s no 
 telling how long it s going to last." And while helping 
 them with their wraps, she went on with her directions. 
 
 "It s easy enough to make, if one only has the ne 
 cessary ingregients ; but sugar and spices are getting so 
 skerce that it s a hard matter to go by rule. I couldn t 
 get even a stick of cinnamon yesterday at Conklin s, and 
 I dare say things ll be skercer now than ever." 
 
 " Oh ! I hope not," said Mrs. Miller. " This trouble 
 isn t likely to be lasting." 
 
 Prudence pursed up her lips, and turned her attention 
 to Miss Mehitable. 
 
 When the guests were ready to start, Margaret led 
 the way to the entry with a light, a "tallow dip" in 
 a shining brass candlestick ; but the instant the door 
 was opened the wind blew it out. 
 
 "It s dark as a wolf s den," said Ben, standing on 
 tiptoe to peer over Meg s shoulder.
 
 A FAIR YOUNG REBEL. 2$ 
 
 " It is dark," said Miss Hitty, drawing back. 
 
 " So it is," echoed Prudence. " Benjamin, go bring 
 the lantern. 
 
 "Just my luck!" muttered Ben. "Always getting 
 myself into trouble ! " 
 
 "No matter, I ll go with you," said Margaret. She 
 knew that Ben would be glad of her company ; and she 
 dreaded being left alone with her aunt, her grandfather 
 having gone to his room. But Prudence had followed 
 them to the kitchen. 
 
 "There is no need of your going, Margaret," she 
 said shortly. "It doesn t take two to carry a lantern. 
 Be sure to put on the cloak, Benjamin." 
 
 Ben was too wise to waste words ; and taking down 
 from behind the door a rusty army cloak, which, though 
 belonging to his Uncle Aaron, had been for many a 
 year at the service of any of the family who chanced to 
 need it, he picked up the lantern, and hurried to the 
 porch. 
 
 Outside the sky seemed to be clearing ; but within, 
 hardly had the door closed behind the visitors when the 
 storm burst forth. 
 
 "As if there was nothing better to be done with a 
 chest of tea like that than to empty it into the sea ! It s 
 the wastefulness of it that angers me. If there had been 
 anything to warrant it, if the house had had to be 
 searched, or anything of that sort, there might have 
 been some excuse for it." 
 
 "The tea was grandpa s, Aunt Prudence; and he 
 gave me leave to do it."
 
 26 /IN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "Yes, and why? Because you can wheedle him into 
 giving you his head, if you choose to. Your grand 
 father and Lodowick Brewster between them are doing 
 their best to spoil you." 
 
 "Prudence, thou art overstepping the requirements 
 ;of the occasion," interposed the old Quaker, appearing 
 at the door in his double-gown. " The child has done 
 no wrong. When a principle is at stake we can afford 
 to make sacrifices, especially when we have so brave an 
 example as that set us by the people of Boston." 
 
 "And what good, pray, will your wasted tea do the 
 Boston folks?" asked Prudence sharply; "or any one 
 else, as for that? " 
 
 Ben s entrance, with the announcement that it was 
 raining " cats and dogs," made an answer unnecessary, 
 for his dripping clothes threatened dis.aster to the neatly 
 sanded floor ; and as his mother marched him into the 
 woodshed, Margaret nestled to her grandfather, and 
 rubbed her face against his arm like a grateful kitten. 
 
 "Poor little Margaret," he said, with his hand on the 
 curly head. "She has begun early to suffer for her 
 country. But there are w r orse things one might have to 
 endure than the railings of an angry tongue."
 
 PRO P ATRIA. 27 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PRO PATRIA. 
 
 J^ORTUNATELY for Margaret s plans, her Aunt 
 J- Prudence the next day had occasion to go to 
 Sagabonack to see her sister. 
 
 "Wot yo s up to now, Miss Marge?" questioned 
 Hagar, when Margaret asked her to put on the dye- 
 kettle. " Dis yere ain t no day fo dyein ; dis sam 
 pawidge an bakin day." 
 
 "Yes, I know it, Hagar; but it won t take long. It s 
 only two or three yards of cloth that I want to dip." 
 
 " Git along den, honey, an soon s I s got de pawk in 
 dat pawidge I ll put yo dye-kittle on." 
 
 Half an hour later a small African appeared at the 
 keeping-room door. 
 
 " Mammy say s e weddy to dye now, my dirl," piped 
 the plaintive little voice. 
 
 "Tell her I m coming, Rick." And hurrying to the 
 kitchen, Margaret improved the chance to plunge the 
 cloth into the kettle while Hagar s back was turned. 
 But before the color had time to change Ilagar came to 
 help her. 
 
 " Fo de Ian sake, chile, wot fo yo want o do dat? " 
 cried the woman. " Yo beau ful red cloak ! "
 
 28 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " It was too red, Hagar ; that was the trouble. Black 
 will be much better. My grandmother Neale gave it to 
 me, and I have a right to do as I please with it. But 
 I d rather not have any one else know about it till it is 
 put together again, so I m going to let you wring it for 
 me, as I don t want to stain my hands." 
 
 " G way, chile! My ol hands won t tell no tales. 
 Can t make em no blacker n dey is. I ll hang Mm up 
 fo yo , and der won t nobody s pec dat ol black rag o 
 bein yo lubly red cloak. But I pities yo , honey, cle 
 fus day yo pears out in it, I does." 
 
 The first time Margaret appeared out in it was the 
 following Sunday. She had told her grandfather about 
 it the evening before ; and when she came down the 
 stairs, looking like a young nun in the plain black 
 mantle, he made no comment. 
 
 It was chiefly her aunt s disapproval that she dreaded ; 
 but Prudence, who had always thought the cloak much 
 too giddy for a daughter of the Puritans and Quakers, 
 simply remarked, with a little sniff for preface, that it 
 would have been an improvement if, while she was 
 about it, she had given it another dip. 
 
 "Pshaw, Meg," growled Ben, who was carrying his 
 mother s foot-stove and hymn-book, " what d you want 
 to go and spoil it for? Twas such a beauty ! " 
 
 But Margaret slipped past him without answering. 
 She was glad, however, when they went into the meet 
 ing-house, to walk behind her aunt ; for she felt that 
 every one was staring at her, and wondering why she 
 had gone into mourning. There, facing the congrega-
 
 PRO P ATRIA. 29 
 
 tion, were the church officers, seated in solemn dignity 
 in the deacons pew under the pulpit, and in front of 
 them the village magistrates, all eying her, apparently, 
 with official sternness. Even Priest Buell, whose ge 
 nial smile was always like a benediction to his people, 
 seemed to frown down on her from beneath the ponder 
 ous sounding-board, it did not occur to her that he 
 might be frowing over the tea-tax, and she shrunk 
 >ack as far as possible in the corner of the square, high- 
 sided pew. But after sermon began she was no longer 
 conscious of her cloak ; for Priest Buell had the faculty 
 of making his hearers forget themselves and their be 
 longings, even when, as sometimes happened, the 
 sermon was so long that he had to turn for the second 
 time the hour-glass that he always kept beside the Bible 
 on the pulpit desk. 
 
 On the way home, having lingered to speak to her 
 cousin, Betty Osgood, she was overtaken by Lodowick 
 Brewster. 
 
 "It s Marjory, is it? "he exclaimed. "I thought I 
 knew the hood ; but the cloak ! Why, what have you 
 been doing with it, pray?" 
 
 "I ve been dyeing for my country, Lodowick," 
 said the girl demurely. A flash of mirth from his kind 
 gray eyes responded to the jest, but when he spoke his 
 face grew grave. 
 
 " It is a good cause to dye in, sweetheart. God grant 
 we may never have to die for it in any other way." 
 
 " How seriously you take it, Lodowick ! As if there 
 could be any danger of that sort in this far-off corner of
 
 30 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 the world ! In Boston, now, one might stand a chance 
 of dying for it in earnest." 
 
 " It is all one. If Boston is forced to take up arms, 
 the whole country must bleed." 
 
 " Have they any later tidings, Lodowick? " asked the 
 old Quaker, turning back to join them. 
 
 "None save the rumor that England threatens to 
 adopt still harsher measures, and that the New England 
 colonies are preparing to resist them." 
 
 The old man shook his head. 
 
 " It will be resistance unto blood, I fear, Lodowick. 
 Would God there were one with the spirit and power of 
 George Fox, to go through the land as he himself went 
 in my grandfather s time, teaching men to heed the 
 Voice within. Then would they take the kingdom 
 with entreaty and not with contention. " : 
 
 " But when the kingdom is of this world, Friend 
 Thurston, and not easy to be entreated, as the colonies 
 have learned to their cost, contention is inevitable, an 
 swered the young man. "But doubtless England now 
 will see her error, and set herself to right our griev 
 ances, in which case she will find us very willing to be 
 again her dutiful subjects. Eh, Margaret?" 
 
 " Not unless she removes the tax," said Margaret 
 stoutly. 
 
 "What, grumbling still about that paltry tax?" Pru 
 dence snapped, who had waited for them to overtake 
 her. " One would think that on Lord s Day, at least, 
 people might find something more edifying to discuss." 
 
 " Nay, Prudence, thou dost underrate it. It is a vital
 
 PRO P ATRIA. 31 
 
 question, and one which, if it be not rightly disposed of, 
 is likely to prove the ruin of the colonies." 
 
 " The only way to dispose of it is to pay it, and make 
 no more ado about it," insisted Prudence. "It is not 
 to be wondered at that England s patience is exhausted. 
 The colonies have no more reverence for a crowned 
 head than for a sooty chimney-sweep, and sooner or 
 later it ll be their ruin." 
 
 " I m afraid," said Margaret, in a troubled undertone 
 to Brewster, " that Aunt Prudence is turning Tory. Of 
 course it isn t strange, her second husband having been 
 an Englishman ; but it s going to make it rather uncom 
 fortable for the rebels." 
 
 "And for one little rebel in particular, I fear," said 
 Lodowick. "If things go on as they are going at 
 present, apparently, there will be many a house divided 
 against itself ; and it grieves me to think of it, sweetheart, 
 for there will be wounds made that can never be healed." 
 
 " Oh ! it may never come to that," said the girl hope 
 fully. " Perhaps when father and Uncle John come 
 home from Hartford they will bring us better tidings." 
 
 At the gate Colonel Gardiner and Squire Chatfield 
 joined them. The colonel was a government officer. 
 lie was a man of goodly parts ; and in his blue coat and 
 buff vest, his brass buttons and shining knee-buckles, 
 he made an imposing appearance, especially when in 
 the saddle on general training-day. The squire was a 
 justice of the peace. Both were near neighbors ; and 
 without waiting for the formality of an invitation, they 
 went in with them and drew up to the fire. But instead
 
 32 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 of the usual exchange of comments on the sermon and 
 the weather, there was an anxious venting of opinions 
 concerning the danger that threatened the colonies. 
 
 " I was at Huntting s last night when the mail came 
 in," remarked the colonel; " and Joshua says that New 
 York is in a ferment over the tea-tax and the threatened 
 annihilation of Massachusetts charter. And Nathaniel 
 writes that it is the same in Philadelphia. What the 
 outcome will be it is not easy to predict." 
 
 "It is all due to Lord North s obstinacy in regard to 
 maintaining the Parliamentary right of taxation," an 
 swered Squire Chatfield hotly. " For three years the 
 colonies have been in a state of open protest; and Eng 
 land was blinder than a bat not to see that, in trying to 
 force the tea on them, she was throwing a firebrand into 
 a magazine." 
 
 "And still," said the colonel slowly, as if weighing 
 his words, "she made the tax so light that the colonies, 
 having no duty to pay on the other side, would really 
 be getting the tea for ninepence a pound less than be 
 fore." 
 
 "Aye, and twas a tempting bait," replied the squire, 
 "but happily the colonies were shrewd enough to de 
 tect the deadly hook behind it ; and if England hopes to 
 win them back, she will have to change her tactics." 
 
 " God grant she may do it speedily, then," said the 
 old Quaker, " before it comes to the shedding of blood." 
 
 "We can all say amen to that, Friend Thurston," 
 answered the squire. " None of the colonies, you may 
 be sure, want to see it reach that pass. Only let Eng-
 
 PRO P ATRIA. 33 
 
 land prove that she means to deal fairly with them, and 
 
 they will gladly return to their allegiance." 
 
 And so the talk went on until Prudence bustled in, and 
 asked them out to dinner. 
 
 "Yes, yes, friends, walk out," said the old Quaker, 
 as the guests pushed back from the hearth. But re 
 membering that their own dinners were waiting for 
 them, the squire and the colonel bowed their thanks 
 with the courtly old school courtesy, and hurried away. 
 And Brewster, after lingering to give Margaret a mes 
 sage from his sister Frances, followed their example.
 
 34 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AN ABSORBING TOPIC. 
 
 IT would be hard to find anywhere in America a place 
 more quaint and primitive than the little village at 
 the east end of Long Island known as Easthampton. 
 It was quaint and primitive, and, in a way, venerable, 
 more than a hundred years ago, being a century and a 
 quarter old at the beginning of the Revolution ; and time 
 has only made these ancient characteristics the more pro 
 nounced. 
 
 In June, 1640, a little company of pioneers, mostly 
 from Lynn, Mass., came sailing up the peaceful Pe- 
 conic ; and having landed on Long Island, at a spot 
 now known as North Sea, they pushed through the wil 
 derness, with their wives and children, to the south side 
 of the Island, and laid out a village which they named 
 after old Southampton in England. 
 
 It was nearly a decade later that a second company 
 crossed the Sound, and with the addition of some who 
 had previously settled in Southampton, founded East 
 hampton. Many of the latter colony hailed originally 
 from Maidstone, England ; and it was by this name, so 
 closely associated with memories of the old home, that 
 Easthampton was first christened. In fact, nearly all
 
 AN ABSORBING TOPIC. 35 
 
 the early settlers of Long Island were English, and for 
 many a day scarcely a family of any other nationality 
 was to be found among them. 
 
 Brave, upright, and chivalrous were these "rude fore 
 fathers of the hamlet," their rudeness being only such as 
 came from their environments, together with the hard 
 ships and deprivations inseparable from a pioneer life ; 
 for many of them were descended from families that in 
 England still bear their ancient coats-of-arms. 
 
 43ut English though they were, and conscientiously 
 loyal to the mother land, they were also Puritans of the 
 Puritans ; and New England was their foster-mother. 
 She had nurtured and trained them ; and they had fol 
 lowed faithfully in her footsteps, even to the embracing 
 of the witchcraft delusion, though, happily, with them 
 the delusion was of short duration, and resulted in no 
 bloodshed, and whatever touched her touched them. 
 
 No matter where men changed to meet, the talk turned 
 always on the one absorbing theme ; and when John 
 Thurston and Aaron Neale, coming back from Hart 
 ford, brought full particulars of the punishment decreed 
 against Boston by the British government, there was a 
 general outburst of indignation. 
 
 "If Mother England is going to inflict such unmer 
 ited chastisement on one of us, she will have the whole 
 family arrayed against her," said Captain Dayton, as 
 he joined the group that had gathered round the hearth 
 at Huntting s Inn. The captain was a farmer; but he 
 had the look of one born to command, and his opinions 
 always carried weight with his neighbors. The inn was
 
 36 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 a favorite meeting-place for the men of the village. It 
 was here, in a blue haze of tobacco-smoke, that they 
 were wont on winter nights to joke and jest, and spin 
 no end of yarns ; but there was no room now for any 
 thing but grave discussion. 
 
 "Come what may," Dayton went on, "the colonies 
 are bound to stand by each other." 
 
 "That s so," said Dan Conklin, the village store 
 keeper. 
 
 " Aye, and New York will prove herself not one whit 
 behind Boston in patriotism," answered Burnet Miller, 
 the town clerk. " None of the colonies showed a braver 
 front when they tried the Stamp Act on us ; and look 
 hpw she seized the tea brought on the London, and 
 tossed it overboard. Boston will find her a faithful 
 ally." 
 
 " It s the Stamp Act that s at the root of it all," said 
 Ezekiel Mulford, taking up the bellows, and blowing 
 the smouldering fire into a blaze. " It took neither a 
 prophet nor the son of a prophet to see what it would 
 lead to." 
 
 " But the Act was repealed as soon as England found 
 how the colonies felt about it," argued Zebulon Howell, 
 who had ridden over from Southampton for the purpose 
 of urging his friends not to be over-hastv. 
 
 "Repealed! Yes, the next year; but what did it 
 amount to, so long as she still claimed the right to make 
 our laws and statutes for us?" scoffed Mulford. " That 
 was eight years ago, and Parliament to-day is as im 
 movable in its assertion of supremacy as it was then."
 
 /IN ABSORBING TOPIC. 37 
 
 "And likely to stay so for another eight years," mut 
 tered Olin Dole, a young man to whom a club-foot had 
 given a somewhat pessimistic turn. " Might as well 
 make slaves of us, an done with it." 
 
 " Oh, come ! come ! " cried Silas Post, giving Olin a 
 friendly punch. " Don t be findin fault with your poor 
 old mother. Prob ly she thinks she s doin it all for the 
 best. Spare the rod an spoil the child, you know." 
 
 "It s a heartless mother, Sile, that governs with the 
 roct alone," said Squire Osborn, as he shook the ashes 
 from his pipe. " If she wants us to be dutiful children, 
 let her give us some proof that she loves us." 
 
 "If she d use the rod only when we deserve it, we 
 shouldn t complain," said Nat Dominy, the clockmaker. 
 "But, guilty or innocent, we are allowed no chance to 
 plead for ourselves ; and it s unconstitutional. From the 
 very first the action of Parliament in regard to duties 
 has been unconstitutional. James Otis made that plain 
 as long ago as 61." 
 
 "Aye, he did that," said a rough-bearded seaman. 
 "I was in Bos on at the time, and I tell you his speech 
 was right to the point. What we want is representation." 
 
 " That s just it, Cap n Foster," answered David 
 Fithian. " We want only what the English themselves 
 were contending for when they compelled King John to 
 sign the charter at Runnymede ; and when Goffe and 
 Whalley, and my great-grandsire, William Fithian, 1 sane- 
 
 1 According to a tradition in the Fithian family, William Fithian was proscribed 
 as a regicide for being present at the execution of Charles I., and the last years of 
 his life were spent in Easthampton.
 
 38 ^N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 tioned the death-warrant of Charles L, and suffered exile 
 for it. When England will consent to our being repre 
 sented in Parliament we sha n t object to a reasonable 
 tax." 
 
 "Until she does consent to it, she may as well keep 
 her tax-gatherers at home," said John Thurston. "The 
 colonies are a unit on that point." 
 
 As the weeks went by the excitement deepened, and 
 the day that saw the Port Bill put into force the people 
 united fervently in the prayer and fasting that had been 
 enjoined on the colonies.
 
 THE MEADOWS. 39 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE MEADOWS. 
 
 EG! Ho, Meg! Where are you?" shouted 
 Ben, one morning, pulling up at the gate in 
 the farm-wagon. "We re going down to the Mead 
 ows, Lod Brewster and I, to take a look at the stock; 
 and you can go along if you want to." 
 
 Margaret, who was working in her flower-beds, did 
 not wait for this gracious permission to be repeated. 
 
 "They are going to the Meadows, Aunt Prudence," 
 she announced eagerly, appearing in the kitchen, where 
 her aunt was helping Hagar with the ironing; "and 
 Ben says that I can go with them." 
 
 " Benjamin takes too much for granted," said Pru 
 dence, holding her iron to her cheek to test its heat. 
 "There s that whole web of linen waiting to be made 
 up ; and what in the world you want to take that long 
 
 J c5 
 
 ride in the sun for, passes my comprehension." 
 
 " Fo de Ian sake, Mis Prudens, do let de chile go," 
 entreated Hagar. " Der ain t but one June in de year, 
 an dat linum 11 keep to Christmas. I jus like to be 
 runnin loose on dem meaders myself dis minute, like I 
 use ter when I s young." 
 
 Prudence walked stiffly to the hearth, and set her sad-
 
 40 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 iron clown between the tall fire-dogs, without deigning 
 to give Hagar an answer ; and Margaret waited impa 
 tiently. 
 
 "Ah, here is Margaret," said her grandfather, pro 
 jecting his head into the kitchen. " We are going 
 down to the meadows to see how the flocks are faring. 
 
 "Oh! are you going, too, grandad?" she cried joy 
 ously. 
 
 " Yes; and we are waiting for thee that is, if Pru 
 dence can spare thee." 
 
 "It s not the sparing her I m thinking of, idlers are 
 easily spared," said her aunt severely, " but the thrift 
 less habits she is getting into. It s time that she settled 
 down to woman s work." 
 
 "Nay, nay, Prudence," protested the old man; "let 
 her make the most of her girlhood. Care will meet her 
 soon enough." 
 
 Margaret gave him a grateful smile, and sped to her 
 room. 
 
 " Hurry up," called Ben, when presently she came 
 flying out; "it s time we were off." 
 
 It had taken her scarcely five minutes to slip on her 
 fresh gown, and tie her straw hat over her curls ; but 
 boys were prone to be impatient a hundred years ago. 
 
 " Dood-by, my did," piped little Rick wistfully, from 
 the woodpile. 
 
 " Good-by, my boy," Meg called back. "Sometime 
 Rick shall go with us." 
 
 Lodowick Brewster, standing beside the wagon, smiled 
 down gravely on her as he helped her in. How sweet
 
 THE MEADOWS. 41 
 
 and womanly she was growing, was his thought. And 
 just then Nathaniel Gardiner s boyish voice was heard 
 calling, "Good-morning" across the street. 
 
 "I don t like being deserted by my friends in this 
 way the first day of my vacation," cried the young fel 
 low, hurrying over to shake hands. 
 
 "Come along with us, then," urged Ben. "We re 
 going down to the Meadows." 
 
 "I m almost tempted to," Nathaniel answered, smil 
 ing frankly at Margaret. " But I came only half an 
 hour ago, and have hardly seen the folks at home. 
 Perhaps I ll join you in the course of the morning on 
 horseback." 
 
 "Nat s a royal good fellow," commented Ben as they 
 drove on. 
 
 Brewster assented heartily to this ; but remembering 
 the joyous way in which Margaret had greeted Nathan 
 iel, he fell to pondering. 
 
 They had nearly reached the lower windmill when a 
 young woman was seen coming down the beach road. 
 
 "It s cousin Betty," cried Margaret. "I wish she 
 could go with us." 
 
 " Nothin to hinder," said Ben, pulling in his horses, 
 " if she doesn t have to stop to fix up." 
 
 The young woman received the invitation with beam 
 ing pleasure. She was on her way to spend the day 
 with Margaret, and could go with them as well as not. 
 She was a fair-haired, dainty-looking girl, with large 
 blue eyes, and the color in her cheeks made one think 
 of wild roses. Margaret, who was two or three years
 
 42 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 younger, looked up to her with a sort of worshipful 
 admiration. 
 
 "There is no one like cousin Betty," she had once 
 said to Lodowick Brewster. 
 
 "No," answered Lodowick, looking down at her with 
 a smile ; " neither is there any one like like your Aunt 
 Prudence." 
 
 Why he had finished the sentence in just that way 
 was a puzzle to her ; but she was quite sure that he 
 shared her admiration for Betty. 
 
 What a morning it was ! The sunshine was of the 
 sort that comes only in June, and with the subtile sweet 
 ness of the inland air was blent the tonic of the ocean 
 breezes, briny and cool ; a heavy shower the night be 
 fore had levelled the ruts in the sandy road, and given a 
 dewy freshness to the landscape ; squirrels were frisking 
 among the oak boughs, and every feathered habitant of 
 tree and thicket seemed bubbling over with song. There 
 were few houses to be seen, for at that time most of the 
 farmers of the East End, like those of the Orient, had 
 their homes within the safer limits of the villages : but 
 
 C> 
 
 wide reaches of wheat and corn, with here and there a 
 field of blossoming flax lying like an azure lake be 
 tween them, told that the husbandman had not been 
 idle. Many of the fields were surrounded with privet 
 hedges, and the rich green leafage and delicate white 
 bloom made a pretty contrast with the blue-starred flax. 
 " Looks as if there s going to be plenty of hatchelling 
 to do this fall," remarked Ben, flicking a horsefly from 
 old Vic s back with the tip of his rawhide.
 
 THE MEADOWS. 43 
 
 " The more the better, Ben," said Brewster. " If the 
 colonies unite on the non-importation scheme, the coun 
 try is likely to need all the flax that can be raised." 
 
 " Are they likely to unite? " asked the old Quaker. 
 
 "Oh, there can be no question of it, Friend Thurs- 
 ton. The people are thoroughly aroused on the subject, 
 and are holding meetings throughout all the Provinces. 
 There is to be one here on Friday, and then we shall 
 know definitely how our people feel in regard to it. It 
 l(*oks now as if the entire East End would vote for 
 it." 
 
 " Dear me ! " sighed Betty, smoothing the cashmere 
 shawl that she had taken the precaution to bring with 
 her, " it s dreadful to think of having nothing but home 
 spun to wear." 
 
 " Better a free people in homespun, Miss Betty, than 
 slaves in royal purple," said Brewster. " We have worn 
 the king s livery too long already." 
 
 " Oh ! but the goods from England are so beautiful," 
 said the girl, " and so necessary. I don t see how in 
 the world we are to get along without them." 
 
 " If we are true patriots, it will be an easy matter for 
 us to forego England s luxuries," answered the young 
 man; "at least until England learns to deal justly 
 by us." 
 
 Ben gave a little sniff. 
 
 "I sha n t cry over having to wear homespun," he 
 remarked, " I m used to that; but what s a fellow going 
 to do, I d like to know, when he can t get any molasses 
 to eat on his pork and beans? "
 
 44 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " O Ben ! Ben !" protested Margaret, with a ripple of 
 laughter, " is that the measure of your patriotism? " 
 
 " Oh ! you can laugh," retorted Ben, " but I tell you, 
 now, it s a pretty serious matter ; and I don t believe 
 you ll get many of the boys to vote for anything that s 
 going to cheat em out o their molasses." 
 
 "Ah, Ben, it s all a serious matter," said Brewster, 
 " and it s hard to foresee how it s going to end." 
 
 "Hi, there!" cried Ben, clapping his hand to his 
 cheek. 
 
 They had reached the sandy waste of Napeague, and 
 the mosquitoes were beginning to scent their prey. 
 
 "What pests they are ! " complained Betty. 
 
 " Oh ! this is nothing but a scouting-party," answered 
 Ben. "Just wait till we get fairly into the desert." 
 
 And presently they were swarming about them like the 
 flies of Egypt ; but Ben sprung out and broke off some 
 bayberry branches, and with these fragrant wands the 
 travellers succeeded in a measure in warding off their 
 attacks. 
 
 " We sha n t be troubled with them after we leave 
 Napeague," said Brewster. " They never venture over 
 the line." 
 
 It was a wild and lonely region, hemmed in on either 
 hand with broken ranges of sand-dunes the latter, on 
 the ocean side, being here and there surmounted with 
 gaunt and twisted cedars which stood leaning landward, 
 dark and grim, like the sentinel ghosts of ancient sachems 
 - and the silence was rent only with the moan of the 
 billows and the occasional cry of a fish-hawk. Even
 
 THE MEADOWS. 45 
 
 under the soft June sky there was something weird and 
 awesome about it ; and the glimpse of the sea that one 
 caught at intervals between the ragged cliffs served only 
 to intensify the sense of desolation. 
 
 But beyond this desert, with the still waters of Fort 
 Pond and Great Pond lapping the sedgy shores, lay the 
 Meadows ; and to see the Meadows in the glory of a 
 June morning one might be willing to face many a worse 
 foe than the Napeague mosquito. Rising steadily higher 
 apd higher, they stretched away in billowy greenness, 
 on and on, to where the Point, lifting its rugged shoulder 
 against the sky, kept ceaseless watch of the great sea 
 chafing like a chained lion at its base. And as far as the 
 eye could reach were scattered the countless herds, some 
 browsing on the hillsides or in the lush marshes, some 
 ruminating under the ancient oaks, and others standing 
 knee-deep in the fern-fringed inlets. Two thousand 
 head of cattle and nearly twice that number of sheep, be 
 sides hundreds of horses and goats, roamed these breezy 
 pastures ; for Montauk at that time was the " ranch " for 
 the entire East End. 
 
 A handful of Indian huts and three or four small houses 
 occupied by the herders were the only human habitations. 
 Now and then there could be heard the tinkle of a bell, 
 or a plaintive bleat from some of the long-legged lambs 
 frisking on the windy uplands ; but the only sound that 
 impressed one was the continuous beat of the surf. 
 
 "I don know what I d do thout that," said old Job 
 Lumley, chief of the herders. " It s a sight o company 
 down here in the night-time. That ca m sheet o water
 
 46 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 t other side s all well enough for them as likes it ; but I 
 say give me the ol ocean." 
 
 "I don t wonder that Job loves it," said Brewster. 
 "There is no other music that has so many variations, 
 to-day an anthem, to-morrow, perhaps, a battle-cry." 
 
 Margaret looked up with shining eyes. She had been 
 patting Wolf, a great yellowish-gray dog, whose pedi 
 gree dated back to the savage wolf-dogs kept by the In 
 dians when the East End was first settled by the English, 
 but not a word had escaped her. 
 
 " I like it as it is to-day/ said Betty Osgood, " gentle 
 and low, like a chant. When it shrieks and pounds, it 
 makes me shudder." 
 
 A small barefooted boy, in tow trousers, flashed a pair 
 of keen black eyes on Betty. 
 
 " Eh, but then s when I likes it best; sounds as if it 
 was havin a good lively time, an most al ays you can 
 pick up things after it." 
 
 " What, you little rascal, have you taken to mooning ;1 
 already ? " asked Brewster, rubbing his hand over the 
 tousled head. 
 
 " An why shouldn t he be takin to it? " said old Job 
 with a grin. " His father an his grandfather took to it 
 before im. Folks can t hardly help it, livin so close to 
 the sea. An you never know -what s goin to turn up. 
 It d take a day an a night to tell all the queer things 
 I ve seen come ashore here after some o them big 
 blows." 
 
 "Say!" cried Ben, bounding up the hillside, "here 
 
 1 Beach-combing.
 
 THE MEADOWS. 47 
 
 comes Cousin David Gardiner. He came down in his 
 sailboat, and landed at Fort Pond." 
 
 "Cousin David Gardiner! I didn t know that he 
 was related to us," said Margaret in surprise. 
 
 " Oh, it isn t on your side of the house, Meg, my 
 dear. Mother says her step-aunt was own cousin to his 
 grandfather, and so of course that makes us cousins." 
 
 Meg gave a mocking little laugh ; but there was no 
 time to answer Ben according to his folly, for here was 
 Mr. David Gardiner himself holding out both hands to 
 her. 
 
 Margaret was glad to see him ; for besides being her 
 father s friend, he had married her own beloved friend 
 and teacher, Miss Jerusha Buell, and she returned his 
 greeting with girlish eagerness. 
 
 He had with him a stranger who was buying up cat 
 tle to ship to the West Indies, and he took especial pride 
 in calling attention to the healthy condition of the stock. 
 
 " It s all owin to this bracin a r," said old Job, al 
 ways proud to hear his cattle praised; "it acts on the 
 an mals jus as it does on humans, it puts new life in 
 em. No matter how spindlin an scrawny they be 
 when they come here, in less n a week they ll begin 
 to pick up. You won t find, the world over, finer herds 
 an flocks n we ve got here on Montaukett, ner better 
 paster land. My grandfather use to be a shepherd in 
 the ol country, fore he come to the colonies ; an many s 
 the time I ve heard him say twas as fine as the English 
 downs." 
 
 " Thou hast good reason to be proud of it, Job," said
 
 48 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Friend Thurston. " It is a sight that always calls to 
 mind the cattle on a thousand hills, and the flocks that 
 fed in Sharon. 
 
 But to the stranger it seemed to call to mind only the 
 opportunity it offered to make a good bargain, and he 
 proceeded at once to business. 
 
 " He s a shrewd one, beggin your pardon," observed 
 old Job aside to Mr. Gardiner; " an if it wasn t he s 
 a friend o yourn, Mr. David, I shouldn t be for havin 
 much dealin with him. There s that about him makes 
 you feel t you d better keep an eye on im." 
 
 "Softly, Job," cautioned Mr. Gardiner. "I know 
 no more about him than you do, except that his name is 
 Hodson. He came to the Manor this morning with a 
 letter of introduction from an old acquaintance across 
 the Sound, saying that he was a cattle-buyer, and had a 
 large order to fill for the West Indies ; and though I 
 admit that there is nothing very prepossessing about the 
 man, we must not pass judgment on him until we know 
 him better." 
 
 But Job went off grumbling to himself: 
 
 " When a man s got the de il in his heart, he s pretty 
 sure to show it in his eye," he muttered, shaking his 
 shaggy locks. 
 
 But men are not likely to forego a desirable bargain 
 simply because a man has an unprepossessing face : 
 and as the old Quaker and Lodowick Brewster, besides 
 owning a goodly number of the cattle, were commis 
 sioned to sell for their friends, the terms were soon 
 agreed upon.
 
 THE MEADOWS. 49 
 
 Meanwhile old Job had sent a message to his wife, 
 and presently young Job and his sister Patsy came from 
 the cabin bringing a generous supply of milk and dough 
 nuts. The milk was served in brown earthen mugs, 
 but Royal Worcester would have added nothing to its 
 flavor. 
 
 " Pon my honor, our gracious sovereign himself 
 might relish it," quoth the stranger, smacking his lips. 
 " Down, you brute ! " 
 
 Aye, an put a tax on it, too, if he could," growled 
 old Job, as he called off Wolf, who was sniffing suspi 
 ciously at Hodson s heels. 
 
 " Hullo ! here comes Big Sam," cried Ben. " May 
 be he d like a snack." 
 
 But Big Sam, though he condescended to take a 
 doughnut, looked with disdain on the brimming mug 
 that Ben made haste to offer. 
 
 " Pappoose drink milk," he said, with his fine lips curl 
 ing ; " Big Sam like strong water." 
 
 "Bad, Sam, bad," moralized Ben. "Strong water 
 makes men crazy." 
 
 " No hurt Ingin in wigwam," answered Sam. " He 
 jus shut eyes an go sleep like dead man, two days, 
 sometimes t ree." 
 
 " Here, Sam, try this," said the cattle-buyer, pulling 
 a flask from his pocket. Sam eyed it longingly, but 
 shook his head. 
 
 " Big Sam no drink strong water when work not done. 
 Me go now to fin los steer. No want to lose self fore 
 steer git foun . Git steer home to-night, then me drink
 
 50 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 plenty." And helping himself to another doughnut from 
 Patsy s basket, he went loping toward the woods. 
 
 "That is thoroughly characteristic of Big Sam," re 
 marked Brewster. "Fond as he is of rum, he can 
 always be relied on not to touch a drop of it while he 
 has any business in hand." 
 
 " Pity some of his betters didn t foller the same rule," 
 muttered old Job. 
 
 " He is a Montaukett," Brewster continued, without 
 noticing Job s parenthesis, " and the herders are often 
 glad of his help." 
 
 "Are there many of the tribe left?" Hodson asked 
 with sudden interest. 
 
 " Only a remnant," Mr. Gardiner answered. " But 
 they were a powerful tribe when the English first came 
 to the Island ; and, owing to the kindness with which they 
 have always been treated, they are firm friends of the 
 white settlers. The same is true of the Shinnecocks." 
 
 "Not so firm, I ll venture to wager, as to be proof 
 against a bale of blankets or a keg of rum," answered 
 Hodson with an ugly leer. 
 
 " Huh ! " sniffed old Job, putting down the mug from 
 which he had been taking great draughts of creamy 
 milk, and scowling till his shaggy eyebrows formed a 
 bridge above his nose, " the man that d be mean nough 
 to try any sech deviltry as that d deserve to be scalped." 
 
 "I doubt if it would be an easy task to turn them 
 from their allegiance," said Mr. Gardiner quietly. " It 
 is true they have degenerated in many ways since my 
 ancestor, Lion Gardiner, smoked the pipe of peace with
 
 THE MEADOWS, 51 
 
 their grand sachem, Wyandanch, who was one of na 
 ture s noblemen ; but there are some fair specimens left 
 still. Look, for instance, at old Peter John, the Shinne- 
 cock preacher. For more than thirty years he has been 
 ministering to the Indians of the East End, and it would 
 be hard to find anywhere a man more devoted to his 
 calling. Both tribes are people of fine natural intelli 
 gence, and their tribal traditions would make a volume 
 worth studying." 
 
 But Hodson took no interest in the Indians past his 
 tory ; and Mr. Gardiner, mindful that the tide would 
 soon be changing, suggested that it was time for them 
 to be thinking of returning. 
 
 "We, too, must be starting," said Brewster. "It is 
 a hard pull across Napeague." 
 
 " Why not let some of your party go back with me 
 as far as Fireplace?" 1 proposed Mr. Gardiner. 
 
 Why not, indeed? Margaret and Betty, who had 
 been talking with Patsy and her brother, at once became 
 interested listeners. 
 
 "You, I am sure, Friend Thurston, would find the 
 boat more comfortable than the wagon," Mr. Gardiner 
 urged ; " and Betty and Margaret, I know by their eyes, 
 would much rather go by water." 
 
 Betty turned hesitatingly to Brewster. 
 
 "Wouldn t you prefer the boat?" she asked. 
 
 "What, leave me to fight my way across Napeague 
 
 1 The name of Fireplace originated in the fact that when any one wished to cross 
 from the mainland to the Manor, it was customary to build a fire of dry seaweed at 
 this point as a signal for a skiff to be sent over from the island.
 
 52 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 single-handed against all those stinging hordes?" cried 
 Ben tragically. 
 
 " You see how it is, Miss Betty," Brewster answered, 
 with a smile ; " it TV ould seem a little shabby, I m afraid, 
 to let Ben drive back alone." 
 
 " Oh ! go on, go on ; I can stand it. Only you needn t 
 expect to find much left of me by the time we meet at 
 Fireplace." 
 
 "Poor boy! he shall have my veil," laughed Mar 
 garet, holding out a strip of green gauze gathered at 
 one end on a narrow ribbon. 
 
 "No, I thank you," retorted Ben; "I ll face the 
 enemy unmasked." 
 
 "Perhaps you ll have the good fortune to meet Na 
 thaniel," Margaret called back, as she started down the 
 hill with her grandfather and Mr. Gardiner. 
 
 " Oh, do come," begged Betty, turning to Brewster. 
 "I don t dare go past the cattle alone." 
 
 And thus entreated, the young man nodded to Ben, 
 and gave his arm to the timid Betty. Betty, though by 
 no means a fragile creature, always impressed her friends 
 as needing especial care ; and Brewster was one who 
 seemed born to be a protector. The wind from across 
 the marshes was beginning to be damp and cool, and he 
 considerately drew her shawl over her shoulders. 
 
 " It is well to be prudent," he said. And Betty thanked 
 him with a beaming smile. She enjoyed being taken 
 care of in just that way. Where is the woman that 
 doesn t enjoy it? 
 
 But Brewster had caught a glimpse of Margaret s face
 
 THE MEADOWS. 
 
 as the girl went past him ; and he imagined that she was 
 looking somewhat grave at least there were no dimples 
 at play. 
 
 "She is disappointed," he said to himself, * because 
 Nathaniel failed to join us." And the thought made 
 him unmindful for the moment that Betty was clinging 
 to his arm.
 
 54 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LORD LION. 
 
 WHEN they reached the boat they found the cattle- 
 buyer in a fever to be off. The "beastly " cap 
 tain of the sloop that brought him over, he said, might 
 at any moment take it into his head to weigh anchor ; 
 and if he sailed without him he should be in a sorry 
 plight. 
 
 There was a lively breeze, and the girls, though the 
 salt spray dashed in their faces, thoroughly enjoyed 
 it ; but the stranger presently set himself to draw them 
 into conversation. Whereupon Brewster, perceiving 
 that they were annoyed, began to discuss with him the 
 colonies prospects concerning trade with the West In 
 dies. 
 
 "They never were better," the man declared. "You ll 
 find no readier market for your cattle." 
 
 But, civil as the words seemed, there was something 
 in his voice and manner that made Brewster say to him 
 self that the old herder was a good reader of character. 
 
 As they neared the landing, a doe, standing at the 
 water s edge, with a fawn at her side, raised her head 
 and regarded them intently ; but there was no hint of 
 fear in her great soft eyes.
 
 LORD LION. 55 
 
 By Jove ! what a chance, if one only had a gun ! " 
 cried Hodson, springing to his feet. 
 
 " Nay, friend," said the old Quaker, " that would be 
 contrary to the rules of the Manor. Friend Gardiner 
 allows none of them to be shot." 
 
 Oho! private property, are they? And I see there 
 is a goodly show of sheep and cattle," said the man. 
 " Well, if the trade with the West Indies keeps up, there 
 is likely to be a demand for them." 
 
 The sloop s boat in which he had come ashore was 
 fastened at the landing ; and while he was exchanging 
 a final word with Mr. Gardiner, Margaret espied the 
 lady of the Manor coming down the path, and springing 
 out, she ran to meet her. 
 
 " Margaret, thou wilt hinder us," called her grand 
 father. 
 
 "Why not leave her?" said Mr. Gardiner. "Wife 
 has been wanting a visit from her." 
 
 And as her grandfather, knowing that she would be 
 only too glad to be left, offered no objection, he pushed 
 off at once. 
 
 " Oh, they are starting ! " cried the girl, dropping her 
 friend s hand and running back to the landing, thinking 
 that Mr. Gardiner had not missed her. But a laughing 
 good-by from Betty and Brewster told her that she had 
 been intentionally deserted. 
 
 " That s David s doing," said Mrs. Gardiner, putting 
 her arm about the girl. " He knew how I had been 
 longing for you." 
 
 "And I dare say grandpa was in league with him,"
 
 56 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Margaret answered contentedly; "for he knew how I 
 had been longing for you." 
 
 On the way to the house they were met by Jason Skrill, 
 one of the farm hands, who brought word that a favorite 
 mare had just died of lock-jaw, leaving a colt scarcely a 
 fortnight old. 
 
 "The master was mighty fond of her," he said. 
 "There wasn t another an mal in the stables that he set 
 sech store by ; an I m afeard now the little beast 11 be 
 dyin too, for not so much as a thimbleful hev we got 
 down it this blessed clay. P raps, milady, you wouldn t 
 mind comin to take a look at it? " 
 
 " May I come too? " asked Margaret. 
 
 "Why, to be sure, if the missis is willin . But it s a 
 sorry sight, my little maid, for the pore thing is that 
 weak in the legs that he wabbles like a tipsy sailor." 
 
 " That was just the way with my Snowball when she 
 was a young calf," said Margaret. "They had taken 
 away her mother, and at first I thought she was going 
 to die ; but after a time I coaxed her to eat, and now she 
 is a beautiful great cow. Lodowick Brewster says I 
 ought to have named her Juno." 
 
 The man had reached the stable, and Margaret hurried 
 after him. 
 
 " She herself bids fair to be a Juno, my pretty Mar 
 garet," was Mrs. Gardiner s thought as she watched the 
 girlish figure. " She grows more and more like her 
 mother." And the sigh that escaped her was to the 
 memory of the friend who had slipped into the other life 
 when Margaret was but five years old.
 
 LORD LION. 57 
 
 The stable boy, a woolly-headed African, had brought 
 in a pail of new milk, and was trying in vain to make 
 the colt drink. 
 
 "Let me try," begged Margaret, dipping her hand 
 in the pail. "Oh, you poor darling!" And soon 
 the little fellow was pulling lustily at the soft pink 
 fingers. 
 
 "Well, that beats me!" said Jason admiringly, as 
 Margaret, with her arm over the colt s neck, went on 
 feeding it. " But it jus goes to show t all young things, 
 whether they re dumb critters or human, want motherin , 
 an women folks is the only ones as knows how it ought 
 to be done." 
 
 Mrs. Gardiner, who was stroking the velvety ears, 
 nodded approvingly. 
 
 " It s the love in the heart that makes the true mother 
 ing, Jason," she said, with a smile; " and Margaret, I 
 think, has a double share of it." 
 
 "That s the truth, ma am," said Jason heartily. "The 
 little maid has a way with her that wins em all to her 
 biddin ." 
 
 Margaret was too much absorbed in her ministrations 
 to notice these comments. 
 
 " He was almost starved, poor thing," she said, when 
 at last the colt showed signs of being satisfied. "You 
 must let me feed him again in the morning, Jason." 
 
 " It s only too ready I ll be to let you, if you ll be that 
 kind," answered Jason from behind an armful of hay 
 with which he was making up the colt s bed; "it ll be 
 the savin of the little beast s life,"
 
 58 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 The sun was setting as they left the stable, and the 
 red glow gilded the rafters of the new manor house. 1 
 
 " I shall be glad when it is finished," said Mrs. Gar 
 diner. "The work goes on but slowly, and I think it 
 troubles my husband. I wish he were home. The 
 night air is not friendly to him. Did you notice how he 
 seemed to-day, Margaret?" The question was asked 
 with ill-concealed anxiety. 
 
 " Oh ! I don t know when I have seen him looking so 
 well," answered Margaret quickly. "And he spoke 
 very cheerfully about the new house. He says he hopes 
 to see it finished and furnished before cold weather sets 
 in." 
 
 Mrs. Gardiner shook her head as if not altogether in 
 sympathy with this hope. 
 
 " Our little island is an Eden in summer, but in winter 
 we are at the mercy of every wind that blows ; and I 
 dread it for David in his present state of health." 
 
 "Oh! by that time he may be well," said the girl, 
 with youthful optimism. "How beautiful it is!" she 
 added, taking in the green meadows dotted with groups 
 of cuddling sheep, and the still greener fields where 
 wheat and oats were billowing in the sunset wind. " It 
 makes one think of the Isle of the Blest. 
 
 While they stood there a young deer bounded through 
 the bushes, and after gazing at them a second, came 
 and rubbed his head confidingly against Mrs. Gardiner s 
 shoulder. 
 
 1 This "new manor house," begun in 1774, is still occupied by the Gardiner 
 family.
 
 LORD LION. 59 
 
 "What a gentle and fearless creature!" said Mar 
 garet, stroking the graceful neck. 
 
 " Yes, all the animals on the island are gentle, for no 
 one is allowed to make them afraid." 
 
 Margaret thought of the cattle-buyer, and related in 
 dignantly the occurrence at the landing. 
 
 " If that is the sort of a man he is, I trust he will 
 never come again," said Mrs. Gardiner. " I can ima 
 gine how David must have felt." 
 
 Just then little John Lion came running from the 
 house. 
 
 " Where is my farver? " he asked, as Margaret caught 
 him in her arms. " I turn to meet him." And on being 
 told that his father had gone to Fireplace, he begged to 
 go to the landing to watch for him. 
 
 " Davy turn too ! " piped a little voice from the door 
 step. 
 
 "Oh, the baby!" cried Margaret, running back for 
 the little one. 
 
 And \vhen in the gloaming David Gardiner came sail 
 ing home, he found the four waiting on the beach to 
 welcome him. 
 
 "How has the day gone, sweetheart?" he asked, 
 stooping to kiss his \vife. But young John Lion, hug 
 ging his father s knee, took it upon himself to tell the 
 news. 
 
 "Sick hossy deaded, an e ittle tolt has n any 
 muvver." 
 
 " Poor Brownie ! I hardly thought we should be able 
 to save her," said Mr. Gardiner, as he mounted John
 
 60 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Lion on his shoulder. " And I m afraid now it will be 
 useless to try to raise the colt." 
 
 "Perhaps not," replied his wife. "Margaret has 
 coaxed the little fellow to eat, and made Jason her slave 
 for life." 
 
 "Well done, Margaret. If you have saved him, you 
 must do us the honor to name him." 
 
 "Then I shall name him after his master," she said 
 quickly. 
 
 " Oh, not David ! " he protested with a laugh ; "there 
 are too many Davids already." 
 
 " Mrs. Gardiner and I don t agree with you in that," 
 she answered, turning her bright face to her friend. 
 "What could be better than Sir David ?" 
 
 But Mr. Gardiner insisted that it had not the right 
 sound for a horse ; and by the time they had reached the 
 house they had compromised on "Lord Lion," Mar 
 garet urging that it was a family name, and next best to 
 "Sir David." 
 
 " It will do very well for a horse," said Mr. Gardiner ; 
 "but our great ancestor was plain Lion Gardiner, and 
 though His Excellency, Governor Dongan, saw fit to 
 erect the island into a lordship, old Lion would have 
 been the last one to assume the title. Indeed, I doubt 
 the wisdom of introducing or encouraging anything of 
 that sort in this new land. It would only serve to estab 
 lish a false aristocracy. The colonies have a better 
 patent of nobility than any that kings and rulers are able 
 to confer ; and the people can afford to dispense with 
 titles, except such as they win for themselves."
 
 LORD LION. 6 1 
 
 " What word from Boston, David? " asked Mrs. Gar 
 diner anxiously. 
 
 " Nothing, love. I tried to learn from our visitor to 
 day whether there were any later tidings, but he pro 
 fessed to take no interest in the matter." 
 
 "Then surely he is not an American," said Mar 
 garet. 
 
 " He is English, I think," answered Mr. Gardiner. 
 " But I fear there are some of the native-born who are 
 qu4te as lacking in patriotism. Perilous days are at 
 hand, and my heart misgives me concerning the out 
 come." And with a heavy sigh he changed the sub 
 ject. 
 
 After supper had been served in the quaint old dining- 
 room, and Master John and his baby brother, much 
 against their will, had been put to bed, Margaret begged 
 to hear the story of Captain Kidd s visit to the island. 
 She had heard it already more than once, but it always 
 fascinated her. 
 
 " I suspect that some of it is mere family tradition," 
 said Mr. Gardiner; "that in regard to the roast pig, for 
 instance." 
 
 " Oh, that is the best of all ! " cried Margaret. " How 
 else could the cloth of gold be accounted for? Only 
 think how disappointed the Grand Mogul s daughter 
 must have been over the loss of that wondrous fabric ! " 
 
 " Yes, if, as tradition says, it was a part of her dowry, 5 
 responded Mr. Gardiner. "But to me the invasion of 
 the Spanish pirates always seemed more real. It was 
 early in September, in 1728; and I ve often heard my
 
 62 /IN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 father, who was a boy at the time, relate the circum 
 stances. A schooner of sixty guns and eighty men 
 stealthily cast anchor in the bay one night, and suddenly 
 every one was roused from sleep by the shouting of the 
 pirates as they forced an entrance into the house. His 
 grandfather, John Gardiner, who was ill at the time, 
 finding that resistance would be worse than useless, put 
 the women and children into the care of a trusty Indian, 
 who guided them through the bushes to his canoe, and 
 landed them safely at Accabonack Harbor. The old gen 
 tleman and those of his men that remained with him suf 
 fered much abuse at the hands of the fierce buccaneers. 
 But we ll not talk of that to-night. It might give you 
 uncanny dreams, my dear. Happily no lives were lost : 
 but the pirates remained on the island several days, seiz 
 ing everything of value that they could lay hands on. 
 Great-grandmother Gardiner, as she fled from the house, 
 caught up a silver tankard ; and that was the only piece 
 of the family plate that was saved. Her husband man 
 aged at last to get word to New London, but before help 
 arrived the marauders had made good their escape." 
 
 " How hard it is to realize that it all happened here 
 in this very house ! " said Margaret. 
 
 " Thank God, nothing of the kind is likely to happen 
 here again," said Mr. Gardiner. "There is no longer 
 in these waters any danger to be apprehended from 
 pirates." 
 
 "But what if war should come?" asked the girl, 
 catching her breath. 
 
 "If war should come," said David Gardiner slowly,
 
 LORD LION. 63 
 
 with his arm around his wife, "I fear we should have 
 to abandon the island, and cast in our lot with our friends 
 in the village. But let us not forebode anything so ter 
 rible and so improbable. England has too much good 
 sense, and too kind a heart, to declare war against her 
 own flesh and blood." 
 
 Early the next morning Margaret was aroused by the 
 thumping of two small fists against her door. 
 
 " Turn feed e tolt, Marg et," cried a lusty little voice. 
 " Tolty onts his beef as." And after waiting with lordly 
 impatience for her to dress, John Lion escorted her to 
 the barn. 
 
 "You see, Miss, you ve got yourself into business," 
 was Jason s greeting, " for the little beast seems to think 
 you ve dopted him, an he won t hev nothin to do with 
 common folks." 
 
 The colt welcomed her by rubbing his head against 
 her like an affectionate dog, and before night he was 
 trotting about the grounds with her. 
 
 "How would you like to have him for your own?" 
 asked Mr. Gardiner. "Would you think him too trou 
 blesome a gift? " 
 
 " Oh, you are not in earnest?" she cried. 
 
 " Indeed I am, my little maid. You are the only one 
 that seems able to manage him, and in your care I am 
 sure he will thrive." 
 
 Lord Lion, as if aware that he was being discussed, 
 thrust his head under Margaret s arm, and gave a low 
 whinny. 
 
 "You darling!" she cried, patting his tawny neck.
 
 64 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Oh, I can never thank you enough, Mr. Gardiner! 
 I m sure he is going to live, and I shall try to bring 
 him up to do credit to his name," she added, her cheek 
 dimpling. Whereupon Mr. Gardiner bowed gallantly, 
 and declared that he had no fears concerning his bring 
 ing up.
 
 A UNANIMOUS VOTE. 65 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A UNANIMOUS VOTE. 
 
 AT EVER in the history of the village had there been 
 1- % such a town-meeting as the one held on the lyth 
 of June, 1774. l 
 
 The whole community was in sympathy with Boston ; 
 and without a dissenting voice it was voted that they 
 would, "to the utmost of their ability, assist and in a 
 lawful manner defend the immunities of British Amer 
 ica," and also that they would co-operate with their 
 brethren in the East End colony "in such measures as 
 should appear best adapted to save them from the bur 
 dens they feared, and, in a measure, already felt, from 
 the principles adopted by the British Parliament respect 
 ing the town of Boston in particular and the British colo 
 nies in North America in general." 
 
 It was also voted that a non-importation agreement 
 throughout the colonies was "the most likely means to 
 save the country from both present and future troubles." 
 
 " If all the colonies would unite on that, it would tend 
 to bring Parliament to terms sooner than any other meas 
 ure," said David Gardiner. 
 
 He had come from the Manor that morning, bringing 
 
 1 For a fuller account of this meeting see " Chronicles of Easthampton."
 
 66 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 with him Margaret and Lord Lion, and had accepted 
 from Friend Thurston an invitation to dinner. 
 
 "They are decidedly in favor of it, if the reports are 
 to be trusted," said Lodowick Brewster, whom Aaron 
 Neale, being in earnest discourse with him when they 
 reached the gate, had persuaded to come in. 
 
 Prudence, knowing that guests were always to be 
 expected on town-meeting day though she had not 
 hesitated to express her contempt for the object of the 
 meeting had spread an elaborate meal, and her pol 
 ished pewter and shining cutlery made a fine glitter 
 she was very proud of her table plenishings but the 
 men seated themselves with minds so preoccupied that 
 it was a hard matter for them to come at once to the con 
 sideration of meats and vegetables. Their indifference 
 sorely fretted her; and, with a housewife s distress in 
 seeing her carefully prepared dishes unappreciated, she 
 made strenuous efforts to turn the conversation to the 
 subject that, to her, was just then of much greater mo 
 ment than the state of the country. But every topic that 
 was introduced led straight to Boston. She asked Mr. 
 Gardiner how his sheep were thriving, and found that 
 instead of bringing the attention of her guests to the neg 
 lected mutton on their plates, she had but opened the 
 way for a prolonged discussion on the probable resources 
 of the beleaguered Bay Colony. Even a simple inquiry 
 in regard to the new manor-house brought a similar 
 result. 
 
 "If we had foreseen," said Mr. Gardiner, "that a 
 storm like this was brewing, we should hardly have ven-
 
 A UNANIMOUS VOTE. 67 
 
 tured to begin to build. These are troublous times, and 
 until the clouds lift it is well for men to go cautiously." 
 
 " It is a time when their strength is to sit still, " said 
 the old Quaker. 
 
 " No, no, father," cried John Thurston, " that time is 
 past. We have been sitting still too long already. What 
 is needed now is immediate and decisive action." 
 
 " Aye, but nothing should be done rashly, John." 
 
 Ben was really the only one at the table that showed 
 a genuine appreciation of the good things set before him ; 
 he had the usual appetite of a healthy boy, and it took 
 something more tangible than the threatened quarrel with 
 England to affect it. But Margaret let no word escape 
 her. She had a keen relish for the conversation of those 
 older and wiser than herself ; and she listened now with 
 the feeling that the subject was one that involved vital 
 interests, and that it was her duty to understand it thor 
 oughly. 
 
 "And how is Lord Lion conducting himself?" asked 
 Mr. Gardiner, when at last the others fell to eating. 
 
 " Oh ! he is quite at home already, and seems to have 
 taken a wonderful liking to little Rick. I never saw 
 such an affectionate little creature. Father says he has 
 the making of a splendid horse." 
 
 " lie will make a fine pacer if he takes after his dam," 
 Mr. Gardiner answered. "When he is old enough for 
 
 o 
 
 the saddle you must let me have a hand in helping you 
 train him." 
 
 " Oh, thank you ! " cried the girl. But suddenly there 
 was a shadow on his face that filled her with misgiving.
 
 68 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "Lord Lion will need a stronger hand than his," she 
 said sorrowfully to herself. 
 
 Though the ensuing weeks brought nothing but tor 
 turing uncertainty, there was a general feeling that mat 
 ters were approaching a crisis ; and this feeling was in 
 no degree lessened when the news was received that the 
 Continental Congress had resolved to suspend all com 
 mercial intercourse with the mother country. It was a 
 bold measure ; and Long Island, in common with the 
 rest of the colonies, while heartily approving of it, waited 
 with bated breath to know how England would receive 
 it. Would the expression of "all dutifulness to the 
 crown," that had accompanied it, lead her to make the 
 longed-for concessions? Or would she regard the reso 
 lution as a challenge, and declare war? If the former, 
 they would continue to be her loyal subjects; if the lat 
 ter, they were ready to "dare and die" in defence of 
 their rights. 
 
 CD 
 
 But their hearts failed at the thought of what might 
 be the fate of Long Island in case of war. A quench 
 less love for their sea-girt isle, 
 
 " Far placed amid the melancholy main," 
 
 is a notable characteristic of the people of the East End, 
 and equally strong is their love of the sea. A handful 
 of heather is not dearer to a Scotchman, nor a shamrock 
 leaf to a son of jjreen Erin, than a bit of drv seaweed to 
 
 r"> +> 
 
 an exiled Long Islander ; and this love was not one whit 
 less intense a hundred years ago than it is to-day. The
 
 A UNANIMOUS VOTE. 69 
 
 sea was a part of their life ; they had taken the tonic of 
 its breath with their mothers milk, and the roar of its 
 billows had blended with their cradle songs. But they 
 knew only too well that, it war were declared, the sea 
 they loved would become at once the ally of the enemy ; 
 and with this foreboding added to their anxiety concern 
 ing Boston, the mail-carrier, that once a week in summer 
 and once a fortnight in winter forged down the Island, 
 was watched for with feverish impatience. 
 
 A* winter drew on, the reports regarding the tribula 
 tions of the Bay Colony grew more and more harrowing. 
 
 " Old Suffolk would gladly spend and be spent in 
 their behalf, if any way could be devised for succor to 
 reach them," said "Assemblyman Miller," whose title 
 had been won by twenty years of faithful service in the 
 legislature. 
 
 "Away must be devised," said Squire Chatlield. 
 
 New England herself was not more eager to reach out 
 a helping hand ; and in November, at a meeting of the 
 committee of correspondence at Riverhead, a vote was 
 taken empowering Captain John Foster, of Sag Harbor, 
 to visit all the ports in the county for the purpose of 
 collecting the contributions of the people for the relief 
 of the Boston sufferers. 
 
 Captain Foster accepted the commission with hearty 
 zeal. 
 
 " It may be only a drop in the bucket," he said, as he 
 stowed away the generous offerings ; " but it ll serve to 
 show that the East End appreciates their patriotism." 
 And never was a cargo sent on its way with a more
 
 70 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 fervent godspeed than that with which in due time the 
 brave captain set sail for Boston town. 1 
 
 Meanwhile there was sorrow at the Manor ; for early 
 in the autumn, while the new house was still unfinished, 
 the King s messenger had summoned the master to the 
 " house not made with hands." 
 
 1 This bit of history is put on record for the enlightenment of the good people of 
 Boston who may never have chanced to hear that the " Bay Colony was indebted 
 to Long Island for this " timeous " benefaction.
 
 WAR. 7 1 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 WAR. 
 
 " TT has come," said Brewster, walking in one after- 
 
 \ noon without waiting to knock. It was spring 
 again ; and the door was standing wide open, letting in 
 both the sunshine and the crisp sea-breeze. 
 
 Margaret, who was at the spinning-wheel, started at 
 the strange ring in his voice, while her grandfather, 
 who had been sitting lost in thought, rose from his arm 
 chair with a troubled face. But the young man, over 
 whelmed with the news he brought, had suddenly grown 
 dumb. 
 
 "What has come, Lodowick?" asked the girl anxi 
 ously. 
 
 " War" answered Brewster, moistening his lips. 
 " Haven t you heard ? A battle has been fought at 
 Lexington. We haven t yet a full report of the engage 
 ment, but blood was shed on both sides. And this is 
 but the beginning." 
 
 The old man dropped back into his chair and bowed 
 his head. 
 
 "Ay, it is but the beginning," he repeated; "and 
 none can foretell what the end \vill be." 
 
 "The end will be freedom, God helping us," an-
 
 72 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 swered the young man, with the solemnity of one taking 
 a sacred oath. 
 
 " Ah, but at what bitter cost, Lodowick. I see, as 
 in a vision, the desolated home, the blighted harvest, 
 brother fighting against brother, and fields red with 
 blood." 
 
 " Better that, Friend Thurston, than that we should 
 consent to be made slaves." 
 
 "Ay, ay, it is a righteous cause, but it is a grievous 
 thing that it must be won by the shedding of blood ; and 
 we need to take counsel of the Indwelling Presence." 
 
 The young man listened with gentle deference. 
 Though not a Quaker, he, too, believed in the " In 
 dwelling Presence" he had learned the meaning of 
 that mystical phrase in his boyhood, having been con 
 verted under Whitefield, when that "spirit of flame" 
 made the circuit of the Island, and set men s hearts 
 on lire with the love of God ; but at twenty-five, with 
 lusty lungs and leaping blood, and nearly six feet two 
 of brawn and sinew, it is not easy to keep step with the 
 aged. 
 
 "Why wait for counsel when the way is already 
 made so plain?" he asked. 
 
 Before the old man could answer, Aaron Neale and 
 John Thurston, with their brother-in-law, Richard Os- 
 good, hurried in : and the look on their faces showed 
 that they, too, had heard the battle-cry. All three had 
 served in the French and Indian War, and they would 
 gladly have remained loyal to England. 
 
 " But what can we do? " cried Aaron, at a white heat.
 
 IV A R. 73 
 
 "England herself has thrown down the gauntlet, and 
 we shall prove ourselves worse than cowards if we refuse 
 to take it up. I have just had a letter from John Stark, 
 who was with us in the campaign under Abercrombie ; 
 and he says that the blood shed at Lexington has roused 
 the whole Province, and that volunteers are flocking into 
 Bedford from all directions. lie himself is one of them, 
 and brave old Putnam, too, who was with us at Crown 
 Point. Ah, England little thought, when she forced us 
 to help her fight her battles against the French, that she 
 was training us to fight our own battles." 
 
 "Ay, she trained us better than she knew," said 
 Richard Osgood, " and a fortunate thing it was for the 
 colonies." 
 
 "If she had listened to Chatham and Burke, all this 
 might have been averted," lamented the old Quaker. 
 " She has lent an ear to false counsellors." 
 
 " That is just where the trouble lies," answered Aaron. 
 " Had all the ministry been of the same mind with 
 Chatham and Burke, our rights would have been re 
 spected and our grievances adjusted." 
 
 "I am not sure but it is better as it is," said Richard 
 Osgood. " It had to come sooner or later. England 
 does not understand us ; we are too widely separated ; 
 and however willing either side may be to keep on ami 
 cable terms, misunderstandings are unavoidable." 
 
 "But surely, Richard, there might be some way 
 found to settle these differences, without resorting to 
 arms," protested the old man. 
 
 " The colonies would be only too willing to adopt con-
 
 74 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 cilatory measures if England would listen to reason," 
 answered Richard. "But there is no choice left us, 
 father. The battle is on, and we must fight it to the 
 end." 
 
 "Ay, and all the Hamptons stand ready to do their 
 share," added Aaron. " Seth Howell says that every 
 man in Bridgehampton is furbishing up his arms ; and 
 already in Southampton men are mustering to go to 
 Boston s help, for the town is in sore straits. Business 
 is at an end, and rich and poor are suffering together ; 
 but they are determined not to yield." 
 
 Margaret, with her foot on the treadle, had listened 
 with kindling eyes. 
 
 " Oh, but they are brave ! " she cried. 
 
 "Ay, daughter; and when it comes to the test, the 
 other colonies will be equally brave," said her father. 
 "The way in which they have indorsed the resolution 
 of Congress to enter into a non-importation agreement 
 shows to what extent they are willing to deny themselves 
 for the public good." 
 
 Prudence, who, with her knitting-work in her hand, 
 had come in while her brother-in-law was speaking, 
 shook her needles with wrathful energy. 
 
 "Why call it good, Aaron Neale, when nothing but 
 ill can come of it?" she asked, in her sharp-keyed voice. 
 "Boston is setting a vicious example; and, if Long 
 Island follows it, we shall presently be in the same dis 
 graceful plight. How are we going to live, I d like to 
 know, if we are to have nothing imported from Eng 
 land?"
 
 WAR. 7 5 
 
 "We must manufacture what we need," answered 
 Aaron. "Times have changed since Goodman Mor 
 gan was sent for from Southold to do the town s weav 
 ing. We have so long done our own spinning and 
 weaving that we shall not be troubled in regard to wear 
 ing apparel." 
 
 "And a fine spectacle we shall make, marching to 
 the meeting-house on Lord s Day arrayed in homespun, 
 thf master and mistress no better clad than the slaves," 
 scoffed Prudence. "Why can t the colonies be content 
 to let well enough alone? We are too dependent on 
 England to make a hue and cry because she sees fit to 
 put a petty tax on the good things she sends us. My 
 cousin, Captain Squires, promised to bring me ten yards 
 of lavender satin and six pairs of silk hosen the next 
 time he came over ; but if Congress is going to try to 
 enforce any such ridiculous measure, I may as well give 
 up all hope of getting them." 
 
 "Fie, fie, Sister Prudence," remonstrated John Thur- 
 ston, "this is not a time to be fretting about fineries. 
 Remember what poor Richard says, Silks and satins 
 put out the kitchen fire ; and just as surely will a han 
 kering for them put out the fire of patriotism. Old Sam 
 uel Mulford was brave enough to present himself at the 
 Court of Saint James clad in homespun ; and though I 
 am free to confess that there is nothing elegant about it, 
 the women of America, with such interests at stake, will 
 look fairer to us in gowns from our own looms than in 
 the finest of imported goods." 
 
 "In New York," said Aaron Neale, "General Put-
 
 76 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 nam s wife and daughters are spending their time in 
 spinning flax for shirts for the soldiers, Mrs. Putnam 
 was an East End woman, you remember ; and it is said 
 that at the South the women have pledged themselves to 
 forego all imported luxuries, and to spin and make their 
 own clothing." 
 
 "Well, I wish them joy!" sniffed Prudence, stalking 
 primly from the room ; and presently Hagar came to 
 the door to say that supper was ready. 
 
 But the announcement made scarcely a break in the 
 discussion ; and Prudence had again to submit to seeing 
 her good things disposed of by men too preoccupied to 
 know or care what manner of food was put before them. 
 
 " War ! war ! " Margaret said the word over to her 
 self in a vain attempt to realize the possibility of its be 
 coming something more than a mere tradition. Many a 
 winter evening, seated on the wide settle in the chimney- 
 corner, she had listened spellbound to her father and 
 uncles as they related their experiences in the French 
 and Indian campaigns ; and the thought of having simi 
 lar scenes enacted in Boston and its vicinity filled her 
 with horror. And had not Lodowick Brewster said that 
 if Boston were forced to take up arms the whole country 
 must bleed? And what was this that her father was 
 saying about the East End? She roused herself to listen 
 again. 
 
 "There is no part of the coast more exposed to the 
 enemy, and nowhere will they find such herds and flocks 
 to tempt them. Let them once gain a foothold, and we 
 shall be powerless to resist them. And if it be true that
 
 WAR. 77 
 
 they can get no provender from the country about Bos 
 ton, they will very soon be looking elsewhere for sup 
 plies." 
 
 As they returned to the keeping-room a sudden clang 
 of the iron knocker brought an expectant look to every 
 face. 
 
 "It is Priest Buell," said Margaret, recognizing the 
 quick, energetic rap. 
 
 Something in the girl s eyes, as she threw open the 
 do<*r, made the minister lay his hand on her shoulder. 
 
 " When ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, 
 be ye not troubled, " he quoted gently. 
 
 " Come in, Mr. Buell, come in," cried Aaron Neale. 
 " You are just the man we want. 
 
 " It is a day of evil tidings, Friend Buell," said the 
 old Quaker, grasping his hand. 
 
 "But what seems evil now may eventually prove 
 good," responded Priest Buell. "And meanwhile, as I 
 was just saying to Margaret, we must not be troubled by 
 these rumors." 
 
 "Nay, it is the lack of definite knowledge that is 
 troubling us," answered John Thurston. " It makes 
 one long to be able to annihilate distance, and see with 
 one s own eyes how matters are going in Boston." 
 
 A few minutes later Silas Post dropped in. 
 
 He was a rugged-looking fellow ; but he walked with 
 a crutch, an injury received while harpooning a whale 
 having left him lame for life. 
 
 "Course you ve all heard the news," he remarked, 
 taking the chair that Margaret offered him, and setting
 
 78 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 his crutch savagely between his knees. Tell you what, 
 it makes me grit my teeth to think I can t do any thing 
 to help the cause along. They say Zek el Mulford s 
 goin right to work to git up a company, an I d join it 
 to-morrer if it wasn t for this blasted stick that I d hev to 
 carry with me." 
 
 " Tut, tut, Silas ! that stick is too good a friend to be 
 maligned in that way," said Priest Buell. "Be true to 
 your name, and content yourself to stand at your post. 
 The probability is that there ll be few enough left at best 
 for a home guard, so many are impatient to be off. I 
 hear that Abram Rogers of Scuttle Hole and Jesse llal- 
 sey of Southampton, with two or three others, have al 
 ready started for Boston with the purpose of enlisting ; 
 and that Elias Pelletreau and his brother John are pre 
 paring to follow them, and Tom Halsey and his brother 
 Abram." 
 
 " Oh ! there ll be no holding back," said Thurston. 
 
 Prudence, coming in just then, looking prim and stiff 
 in her purple gown and high-crowned cap, made a little 
 break. 
 
 " How is Jerusha?" she asked, when she had courte- 
 sied to Priest Buell, and seated herself with her knit 
 ting. 
 
 "Fairly well, thank you, Mrs. Golby," answered the 
 minister, "bodily, but sorely perplexed in mind regard 
 ing the Manor ; for, should war be declared, she would 
 be obliged to abandon it." 
 
 " Not if she is wise enough to be loyal," said Prudence, 
 quickly.
 
 WAR. 79 
 
 Oh ! she is loyal through and through to America," 
 responded Mr. Buell, his keen eyes twinkling; "and 
 she has no wish to see her sheep and cattle fall into the 
 enemy s hands." 
 
 "It s not strange that she is troubled about them," 
 said Aaron Neale. " Even if they were removed to 
 Montauk, they would still be in danger." 
 
 An animated discussion as to the best measures to be 
 adopted for the protection of the stock on the Meadows 
 ensued ; and Prudence, at last, thrusting her needles into 
 the ball of blue yarn from which she had been knitting, 
 and intimating in pantomime to Margaret that it was 
 bedtime, withdrew in grim silence. 
 
 Margaret, though she had no wish to go, rose noise 
 lessly, hoping to slip out unnoticed. 
 
 " If it were not for the likelihood of being needed 
 here, I should start to-morrow," Lodowick Brewster was 
 saying. But when she reached the door he stood hold 
 ing it open for her, with a gentle "good-night" in his 
 serious eves. 
 
 j 
 
 " Needed here ! " she repeated to herself. " Of course 
 he will be. What would Miss Frances and Debby do 
 without him? And what would become of his profes 
 sion, for which he has been studying so diligently?" 
 
 On leaving college the young man had, for a time, 
 partly from love of teaching, but chiefly to piece out a 
 somewhat limited income, taken charge of the village 
 school ; but the death of a wealthy relative, who was 
 so considerate as to make him his heir, having left him 
 at liberty to follow his bent, he had chosen law for a
 
 SO AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 vocation, and was expecting to be admitted shortly to the 
 bar. But Margaret knew very well that in an hour like 
 this his country s need would be his first thought ; and 
 she went up-stairs with a new fear clutching at her 
 heart.
 
 BUNKER HILL. 8 1 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BUNKER HILL. 
 
 IT was several weeks before the particulars of the bat 
 tle of Lexington reached the East End, and they 
 were still being fiercely discussed, when the patriotism of 
 the people was put to the test by the necessity of taking 
 action on the articles of association that had been recom 
 mended by the Continental Congress. 
 
 "Now, then," said Aaron Neale, as he was about 
 starting for the meeting that had been called for signa 
 tures, "we shall soon know whether or not there are 
 any among us in sympathy with the enemy." 
 
 "And why may not we women sign?" asked Mar 
 garet. "Truly I see no reason why we should be 
 denied the privilege of putting ourselves on record as 
 faithful Americans, any more than our fathers and 
 brothers." 
 
 " Thee need not be troubled on that score, little one," 
 said her grandfather. "If the contest goes on as it has 
 begun, the women of our land will not lack opportunity 
 to prove their patriotism." 
 
 " Go to your wheel, child," said her father, stooping 
 to kiss her, with his hat in his hand. "It is enough for 
 us men to have to put our heads into the lion s jaws."
 
 82 AH ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 But Margaret was too restless to settle down to spin 
 ning. She followed her father to the gate, and watched 
 him half enviously as he joined Squire Wickham and 
 Burnet Miller on the opposite side of the street. The 
 roses at either end of the porch were in full bloom, with 
 here and there a cluster that had passed its prime ; and 
 seeing that they needed attention, she began clipping off 
 those that were faded with the scissors that hung at her 
 belt. Happily her aunt was not at home ; and the girl, 
 in her joyous sense of freedom, was presently hum 
 ming, - 
 
 " Fairest isle, all isles excelling. " 
 
 The air was flooded with sweetness, the scent of roses 
 and clover mingling with the fragrance blown from the 
 fields where the new-mown hay lay in long green bil 
 lows ; on the margin of the fields was a fringe of daisies, 
 white as sea-foam, that the mowers had spared, and 
 there was just wind enough to keep them swaying ; 
 somewhere overhead a song-sparrow was trilling, while 
 the surf beyond the dunes was breaking \vith a soft 
 crooning measure that seemed to prophesy only peace 
 and safety. 
 
 "June is so beautiful!" sighed the girl, lifting her 
 face to the sky. " It would be hard for men to have to 
 fight on a day like this ! Grandpa is right about it, 
 there ought to be some other way. Oh, but I hope 
 every one will sign the paper ! " 
 
 It was too pleasant to go in-doors ; and while she lin 
 gered, a grotesque little figure in a tow frock came 
 rolling and tumbling toward her.
 
 BUNKER HILL. 83 
 
 " Yo Rick, git up dar, an stop a-walkin on yo 
 head," called Hagar, from the kitchen door. 
 
 " Ya as m, I se a-doin ter," said the boy, turning a 
 somersault that landed him at Margaret s feet. "Turn 
 feed de tolt, my dirl," he piped, pulling at her skirts; 
 " p ease turn." 
 
 " What a coaxer you are, Rick !" laughed Margaret, 
 catching him by the hand and starting for the pasture. 
 
 Lord Lion came prancing to the fence with a soft 
 whinny ; and Margaret, yielding to Rick s plea for a 
 ride, had just helped the little fellow to mount when 
 Lodowick Brewster joined them. 
 
 "O Lodowick!" cried the girl, letting Rick slip to 
 the ground, " did everybody sign it?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed; they came forward to a man, and 
 pledged themselves never to become slaves, two hun 
 dred and sixty-three names in all." 
 
 "And Priest Buell, did he, too, sign?" 
 
 " Oh ! he not only signed it, but declared himself 
 ready to shoulder arms, if necessary, for the defence of 
 the town. Priest Buell never does anything by halves. 
 And old Assemblyman Miller was equally patriotic. 
 Twas a grand meeting. They have had one in South 
 ampton too ; and even those who at first were inclined 
 to think that the colonies were unwise to rebel, came 
 out boldly and put down their names. Zebulon Howell 
 was one of them. But I had well-nigh forgotten my 
 errand. Deborah wants you to spend the afternoon 
 with her." 
 
 " Oh, thank you ! " she answered, eagerly, feeling for
 
 84 AN ISLAND HEROINE 
 
 the time quite her own mistress; "it is what I had al 
 ready had half a mind to do. But here come the others, 
 and you must stay to dinner." 
 
 "Ah, Lodowick ! " cried Aaron Neale. "We have 
 been looking for you. The committee have called a 
 meeting for this afternoon, and you must not fail to be 
 there." 
 
 "I have promised Isaac Conklin to go with him to 
 Amagansett after dinner," said Lodowick ; but I think 
 I can get back in time for the meeting." 
 
 " Stay and eat with us, and we can talk the matter 
 over," urged John Thurston. "It is in regard to the 
 stock on the Meadows. Tell Hagar to make haste with 
 the dinner, Margaret." 
 
 But Hagar already had dinner on the table. 
 
 " Where is Prudence?" asked Aaron Neale, as they 
 seated themselves, " and Benjamin?" 
 
 " Aunt Prudence wanted Ben to go to the Harbor to 
 get her some sewing-silk and cinnamon, and she went 
 with him as far as Sagabonack." 
 
 " In the wagon? " asked John Thurston. 
 
 "No; on horseback, uncle. She rode behind him 
 on the pillion," answered Margaret. She had a suspi 
 cion that her aunt had planned the journey mainly to 
 keep Ben from going to the meeting, but she kept it to 
 herself. 
 
 "Prudence is not disposed to forego any of her lux 
 uries," remarked Thurston; " and I m afraid there are 
 others of the same mind." 
 
 "There is a fair prospect of their having to forego
 
 BUNKER HILL 85 
 
 them, whether they will or not," said Aaron, "unless 
 England comes speedily to her senses." 
 
 Meanwhile the dinner was being eaten in haste. 
 
 "What, Indian pudding, Madge?" said Thurston. 
 
 "Yes, and some of Hagar s hot gingerbread, Uncle 
 John." 
 
 "Well, they ll have to wait; no time for extras to 
 day. We must be expeditious." 
 
 A^ they rose from the table Brewster turned to Mar 
 garet. 
 
 "Why not go now? " he asked. "Deborah will be all 
 the happier to have you come early." 
 
 Margaret was very well pleased with this proposi 
 tion, and went at once to make herself ready. 
 
 They had but stepped from the porch, w r hen a boy 
 on horseback, with a woman bouncing on the pillion 
 behind him, came dashing down the street. 
 
 " Why, it s Ben ! " exclaimed Margaret. "And hark ! 
 what is he crying?" 
 
 " News from Boston ! Nother big battle ! " shouted 
 the self-appointed herald, galloping past. But at a call 
 from Brewster he wheeled about. He had quite for 
 gotten his mother. 
 
 "Well, I m thankful to get here alive," gasped Pru 
 dence, as Brewster helped her down. "Benjamin is 
 beside himself." 
 
 "Are you sure about the battle, Ben?" asked the 
 young man, too much dismayed to give Mistress Pru 
 dence any further attention. "Where did you get the 
 news?"
 
 86 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "At the Harbor. A sloop just in from New London 
 brought a letter from Jesse Halsey. He and some other 
 fellow from Southampton, it seems, left their horses at 
 the Harbor, and, taking a boat to New London, walked 
 the rest of the way to Boston, and got there just in time 
 to see the end of the battle. Twas at Banker s Hill, or 
 Bunker Hill, some such name. They say they had a 
 tremenjous time. Over four hundred Americans killed ! 
 They fought like tigers, and the British lost twice that 
 number; but at last the Americans had to retreat." 
 
 " My God! it is terrible," gasped Brewster. " One 
 minute, Ben. Did you hear " But Ben had dug his 
 heels into his horse s ribs, and was already out of hear 
 ing. 
 
 "Oh, it can t be true!" said Margaret. "Ben is 
 only a boy, and a giddy one at that. It would be noth 
 ing strange if he had the whole story wrong end first." 
 
 " Indeed, it seems beyond belief," said Brewster. 
 
 At that moment Big Sam came loping by. 
 
 "Big fight in Bos on. Heap o folks git kilt," he 
 said placidly. 
 
 While they were questioning him Isaac Conklin drove 
 up. 
 
 "Jump in, Lodowick," he said; " it s time we were 
 off." 
 
 " But haven t you heard?" cried Brewster. " There s 
 been another battle, and over four hundred of our men 
 were killed." 
 
 " No, no, Lodowick ! God forbid ! Some one is try 
 ing to hoax us."
 
 BUNKER HILL 8/ 
 
 " Ben Thurston brought the news from the Harbor, 
 and Big Sam confirms it. If it were not for going with 
 you to Amagansett, I d ride at once to the Harbor, and 
 see if anything more definite can be learned." 
 
 "Oh! don t wait for that," cried Conklin. "Go, 
 and God grant that you may find it a false report ! " 
 
 " Oh, the horror of it ! " sighed Margaret, quickening 
 her pace to keep step with Brewster, who was striding 
 ahead with set lips and flaming eyes. And for the 
 remainder of the way they walked in silence. 
 
 " Perhaps," said Brewster, as he opened the gate for 
 her, "it will be as well to say nothing to Frances and 
 Deborah about it just yet. Poor little Deb ! she is feel 
 ing rather down-hearted these days ; for Will Braydon 
 has written her that he has enlisted, and the news of 
 another battle would no doubt make her anxious about 
 him. You might tell them, though, that I ve had to go 
 to the Harbor on business. Good-by, Marjorie, good-by ! 
 But wait, I must have some water before I start. Come 
 with me to the well." On reaching the kitchen-porch 
 he took from the little shelf beside the door a cup made 
 from the shell of a cocoanut. The well, with its long 
 sweep, \vas a short distance beyond. 
 
 " No, you drink first, sweetheart," he said, having 
 filled the cup from the dripping bucket. And when 
 Margaret, after a hasty swallow, handed it back to 
 him, he lilted it gravely to his own lips. It was not 
 the first time that lie had filled it for her, though Mar- 
 
 c? 
 
 garet, he told himself, had doubtless forgotten it. 
 
 " If ever I go to war, that cup goes with me," he said,
 
 88 /IN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 giving it to her to put back in its niche. " Good-by 
 again, sweetheart." 
 
 The girl, watching him as he hurried to the barn to 
 saddle his horse, felt her courage suddenly fail her. If 
 this report that Ben had brought proved true, it would 
 make war a certainty, and her father and her Uncle 
 John would have to become soldiers again. And Lodo- 
 wick ! Lodowick, too, would go. The thought took away 
 her breath ; and it was through a mist of tears that she 
 watched him lead out Rex, his big brown horse, mount 
 him, and dash off without even a backward glance. 
 
 But who was it coming up the road, to whom, in spite 
 of his haste, he was making that courtly bow? Oh, 
 Betty, Cousin Betty ! And she ran to the gate to wait 
 for her, glad of a delay that gave her time to dry her 
 eyes before going in. 
 
 "Have you heard the news?" asked Betty, too ab 
 sorbed in watching the vanishing horseman to notice 
 Margaret s wet lashes. She carried on her arm a wicker 
 basket filled to the brim with blush roses, and her cheeks 
 matched their delicate flush. 
 
 " Sh-sh ! " cautioned Margaret, "we are not to speak 
 of it till he gets back. It may be a false report." 
 
 "I m afraid not," said Betty. "We met Deacon Cook, 
 from Southampton, on our way here ; and he says that, 
 just before he started, Captain Skidmore came riding 
 post-haste from Jamaica with the news. The people 
 are wild about it the whole length of the Island." 
 
 " Oh ! have you come? " cried Deborah, flying into the 
 entry, and throwing her arms around Margaret. " But
 
 BUNKER HILL. 89 
 
 where is Lodo? I thought he was coming back with 
 you." 
 
 Margaret explained briefly. 
 
 "But here is Cousin Betty to take his place," she 
 said. 
 
 Betty, who had lingered at the door for one more 
 look in the direction Rex and his rider had taken, came 
 forward quickly, and gave Deborah her roses with a 
 kiss. 
 
 * Oh, how sweet!" said Deborah, burying her pretty 
 face in the pink mass. "And how good you were to 
 come." 
 
 "Oh, that was pure selfishness! They are picking 
 geese at our house to-day ; and when Uncle Joel, who 
 was going to Bridgehampton, offered to bring me over 
 and stop for me on his way back, I didn t need to be 
 asked twice." 
 
 Deborah laughed. " I don t wonder that you wanted 
 to escape. Ours were picked a day or two ago, and 
 the quacking set me nearly wild. It is almost as bad as 
 the bleating of sheep in shearing-time." 
 
 "Poor things ! no wonder they make an outcry," said 
 Margaret. " But there s no help for it. What should 
 we do without the wool? And father says that, if there 
 is any likelihood of war, we shall have to be more sav 
 ing than ever of our feathers, for all the pillows we can 
 make will be needed for the soldiers." 
 
 " But does he think there is any real danger?" asked 
 Deborah, quickly. " Lodo seems to think that England 
 is too sensible to declafe war against her own colonies."
 
 9O AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 It looks now as if the colonies themselves might declare 
 it, "said Margaret. " I am sure they have good cause." 
 
 "Oh! I don t know," sighed Betty, with a shudder. 
 " War is so terrible ! " 
 
 While they were talking a shaggy Newfoundland rose 
 up and shook himself ; but he wore a dejected look. 
 
 " Poor Neb, he misses his master," said Deborah. 
 Whereupon both Betty and Margaret began to caress 
 the old fellow. 
 
 " Oh, the roses ! " cried a soft musical voice, as Deb 
 orah, with the basket in her hand, opened a door on the 
 opposite side of the room. 
 
 " Betty brought them," said Deborah ; " and here she 
 is herself, with Margaret Neale. They have come to 
 take tea with us." 
 
 " Supper, my dear," corrected the invalid, giving to 
 each of the visitors a delicate, blue-veined hand. " We 
 will have no more teas till the tax is lifted." 
 
 " Happily there is no tax on roses, or they, too, 
 would be banished, Sister Frances is such a patriot," 
 said Deborah. "There! could anything be lovelier?" 
 she asked, placing on a little stand beside the bed a 
 great blue bowl filled to overflowing with the fragrant 
 pink clusters. 
 
 "They are loveliness itself," said the invalid, lean 
 ing over to inhale their sweetness. " Elizabeth is gen 
 erous with her roses. If they were like those in Saint 
 Elizabeth s basket, some one might have to go hungrv." 
 
 "Not here," answered Deborah, with a light laugh. 
 " Mam Zany baked five loaves of rye-and-Indian this
 
 BUNKER HILL. 91 
 
 morning, so we can feast on roses with no fear of a lack 
 of bread." 
 
 " In case of war," said Margaret, coming back to 
 the subject in spite of herself, "perhaps we d be glad 
 to have our roses turn to bread ; for father says that, if 
 there should be a sudden call for troops, there might not 
 be men enough left to harvest the crops. But if that 
 should happen," she added decisively, "we women 
 would do the harvesting." 
 
 "What, work in the fields?" cried Betty, looking up 
 aghast from the dainty bit of embroidery on which she 
 was centring her energies. " Oh, we should never be 
 equal to that ! " 
 
 " We don t know what we are equal to, my dear, un 
 til the necessity is laid on us," said Miss Frances, softly 
 stroking Betty s hair. " As thy days, remember, so 
 shall thy strength be. 
 
 " Oh ! don t let us talk any more about war," entreated 
 Deborah. "Margaret, dear, do sing us something." 
 
 Margaret, who had taken out her knitting, hesitated 
 a minute ; and her ball of yarn, slipping to the floor, be 
 came the prey of Deborah s black kitten. " What shall 
 it be?" she asked. " My Name is Robert Kidd as I 
 Sailed, or Cruel Barbara Allen ? Wait, I have it." 
 And in her clear, bird-like soprano she sang, 
 
 " For folded flocks and fruitful plains, 
 The shepherd s and the farmer s gains, 
 
 Our Island all the world outvies; 
 And joy as in Arcadia reigns 
 
 Beneath our glad, health-giving skies.
 
 92 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Fairest Isle, all isles excelling, 
 
 Home of hearts both leal and brave, 
 
 God above, when war clouds darken, 
 From the foe our Island save." 
 
 When the song ended Miss Frances was shading her 
 eyes with her hand. 
 
 " If I were not familiar with some of the lines," she 
 said, "I should be almost tempted to think it your own 
 composition." 
 
 "Oh, no, indeed!" exclaimed Margaret, stooping to 
 pick up her ball. " I heard father reciting the poem 
 one day, and it seemed to me so well adapted to our own 
 Island that I changed one or two of the lines and made 
 a song of it. But I didn t mean to have it end in just 
 that way." 
 
 "It could hardly have a better ending, my dear. 
 And for the rest of it, though Master John Dryden might 
 not thank you for making the changes, our Island well 
 deserves the tribute." 
 
 " I am sure there can be no fairer island anywhere," 
 said Margaret; " and its bays and harbors, father says, 
 are among the finest in the world." 
 
 " But it is a lonesome spot," protested Betty, who had 
 spent a winter in New York, and had a hankering for 
 city gayeties ; "it is so far from everything so shut 
 away." 
 
 "Ah, child, in times like these," said the invalid, 
 "we may be thankful to be shut away, far from the 
 madding crowd. By the way, I wonder if you have 
 seen the Elegy ? Cousin Annie Brewster has just
 
 BUNKER HILL. 93 
 
 sent me a copy published in London. Let me read you 
 a page or two." And from under her pillow Miss 
 Frances drew out a little book, carefully folded in a 
 cambric handkerchief. " Listen to this. It is like a 
 picture." 
 
 A new book was a rarity, and to hear Miss Frances 
 read was better than listening to a harpsichord. 
 
 Clear and sweet fell the rhythmic words that still June 
 day, and the three girls in the straight, high-backed 
 chairs hearkened with rapt faces. 
 
 "It is a whole gallery of pictures," was Margaret s 
 comment, when, with the stanza from which she had 
 quoted, Miss Frances came to a stop. 
 
 "Ay, and some of them," said Miss Frances, " seem 
 very applicable to our own little hamlet, our Maidstone 
 by the sea. Dear old Maidstone ! What a pity that the 
 forefathers did not keep the good old name ! " 
 
 " It s not too late to change it," Deborah declared. 
 " Maidstone is so much prettier, and there are so many 
 Hamptons. Frances says that our grandmother always 
 called it Maidstone." 
 
 "Yes; her family came from Maidstone, in Kent 
 County, England," answered Miss Frances; "and she 
 never tired of telling the stories she had heard from her 
 mother about the old home on the banks of the Med- 
 way." 
 
 " No doubt most of us have relatives there, and in 
 fact all over England," said Margaret; " and it makes 
 it doubly sad that there should be any disagreement 
 between the two countries."
 
 94 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Miss Frances laid her hand lovingly on Margaret s. 
 
 "When a principle is at stake, those nearest and 
 dearest are often forced to disagree," said the invalid. 
 "Whatever comes, kinship must not make us blind to 
 duty." 
 
 " I wish Lodo would come," said Deborah, going to 
 the window. " Supper is ready and waiting, but we 
 don t want to eat without him. I don t see what is keep 
 ing him." 
 
 " Oh ! I am sure he will be here soon," said Marga 
 ret, trying to speak cheerfully. And she said the same 
 when at last, reluctantly, they seated themselves at 
 the table. But when, an hour later, Mr. Joel Osgood, 
 returning from Bridgehainpton, stopped for Betty, he 
 had not yet come ; and Betty, looking back as they drove 
 away, was guiltily conscious of begrudging Margaret 
 the privilege of waiting. But Margaret, too, though she 
 stayed till sundown, had to go without seeing him. 
 
 As she hurried homeward in the twilight, she heard 
 at intervals the tinkle of cow-bells ; and as the lowing 
 cattle passed her, their breath sweet with the scent of 
 milk and clover, she found herself mechanically repeat 
 ing the words of the " Elegy." The grass by the way 
 side was lush and green ; and the cows, in no haste to 
 reach the barnyard, made frequent stops to crop it, in 
 spite of the proddings of the barefooted boys behind 
 them. Here and there the children were having an 
 after-supper game of tag, and in the village pond the 
 ducks and geese were taking their evening swim. What 
 a peaceful scene it was, and how unlikely that its peace-
 
 BUNKER HILL. 95 
 
 fulness would ever be broken by the rude alarms of 
 
 war ! 
 
 She thought that, before going home, she would call 
 at the parsonage, it would be a relief to have Priest 
 Buell s opinion concerning the truth of the tidings ; but 
 she changed her mind. It was not worth while to talk 
 about it until something more definite was known. If 
 she could only have waited for Lodowick ! 
 
 Suddenly, as she was passing the burying-plot the 
 same that to-day lies like a huge coffin in the centre of 
 the ancient street behind her came the sound of hoofs, 
 and the next minute Lodowick Brewster was at her side. 
 
 "Yes," he said, answering the question that she had 
 not the courage to put into words, " it is only too true. 
 Two or three of the East End men were in the battle, and 
 Abram Rogers of Scuttlehole was killed. Over four 
 hundred of our army were killed and wounded. Charles- 
 town is in ashes, and no one knows how soon Boston 
 may share its fate. But the enemy s loss was over a 
 thousand, including a number of officers ; and though 
 our troops were forced at last to retreat, it is in reality a 
 victory. Ah, it was a grievous mistake the British made 
 the day they marched to Concord ! " And straightening 
 himself in the saddle with the look of one whose heart 
 was hot within him, he gave Rex the reins, and dashed on. 
 
 Margaret, who had listened in silence, steadied her 
 self against the graveyard hedge, and gazed after him 
 with straining eyes. A moment later a thick fog had 
 enveloped the village, and blotted out horse and rider. 
 
 War ! war ! The fog deepened till she could scarcely
 
 96 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 see across the street, and she stood like one in a dream, 
 everything seemed so unreal. 
 
 A cold nose thrusting itself into her hand served to 
 dispel the mental fog. 
 
 "O Lion! Lion!" she sobbed, with her arms about 
 the furry neck. 
 
 "Ho, you there, Meg!" shouted a boyish voice. 
 "Might have known it by the way the colt took to 
 his heels. I d just turned Snowball into the lot, and 
 was starting to lead His Lordship round to the watering- 
 trough, when all of a sudden he pricked up his ears and 
 was off like a shot." 
 
 "Dear old Lion, you missed me, didn t you?" said 
 the girl, stroking his head. 
 
 "Oh, don t stop to pet him, Meg!" entreated Ben. 
 "There s to be a meeting to-night at the school-house, 
 and I want to be there. Come on, you rascal !" 
 
 But Lion refused to leave his mistress. 
 
 "What is the meeting for?" asked Margaret, trying, 
 with her hand on Lion s mane, to keep up with Ben. 
 
 "Oh! I don t know. Something about a petition to 
 Congress to protect the stock on the Meadows. Tell 
 you, Meg, things are getting exciting. To-morrow s 
 general training-day, and the colonel s ordered every 
 boy that can handle a musket to be there. Say, did 
 you know that that fellow that was down here last sum 
 mer buying cattle, pretending that he was going to ship 
 em to the West Indies, took em straight to Boston to 
 make into beef for the British? " 
 
 "Ben!"
 
 BUNKER HILL. 97 
 
 " Fact. And he s been back for more ; and when he 
 found that he couldn t get any of the Montauk stock, he 
 tried to persuade Colonel Gardiner to supply him from 
 the Manor you know the colonel s one of the guar- 
 dccns for John and Davy but the colonel, I guess, 
 had a suspicion of what he was up to ; at all events, he 
 wouldn t let him have any, and Hodson had to go back 
 with his finger in his mouth. Served him right too. 
 Eh, but he s a tricky one. He s bad Injun through 
 and*through ; and Big Sam says that bad Injuns when 
 they get to the next world will have to go to carrying 
 water in a wicker basket, and making canoes with a 
 round stone. Be a tough job for Hodson." 
 
 " I m glad he didn t get the cattle," said Margaret, too 
 preoccupied to give any thought to Big Sam s theory con 
 cerning future punishment; "but, O Ben! isn t it ter 
 rible to think of all those brave men killed at Bunker s 
 Hill? And it isn t only our own people that suffer. 
 Think how many homes in England were made desolate 
 that day ! Oh, it is cruel for Parliament to drive the 
 people to war ! " 
 
 "What does Parliament care? If they had to do the 
 fighting themselves, maybe they wouldn t be so keen to 
 pick a quarrel with us. But they ll get sick of it. A 
 few more fights such as they ve had at Boston 11 teach 
 em that the colonies are not to be trifled with. My, 
 Meg, but that must have been a battle worth seeing ! " 
 
 "It must have been a terrible sight," said Margaret, 
 with a shudder. " Such cruel, needless bloodshed ! " 
 
 " What, little twin, is that you? "
 
 98 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Margaret recognized the voice, but its owner looked 
 wan and unreal in the ghostly light. 
 
 " Hullo, Nat ! Where d you come from ? " cried Ben. 
 
 "Just home from college," answered the young fellow, 
 giving Margaret his hand. 
 
 " Have you come to stay? " she asked. 
 
 "Not if I can persuade father to let me enlist," an 
 swered Nathaniel. " Much as I want to go on with my 
 studies, I want still more to be serving my country. It 
 is not a time to be poring over books." 
 
 " Say, Meg, hurry up," urged Ben. 
 
 " Oh, go on, Ben ! I ll see to Lion," said Meg. 
 
 "And I ll see to Lion s mistress, with her ladyship s 
 permission," said Nathaniel, as Ben vanished. 
 
 "You have come at a sorry time, Nathaniel," said 
 the girl. " Who would have believed that such trouble 
 as this could happen to the colonies?" 
 
 " It is a time that stirs one s blood, Marjorie," he an 
 swered quickly, his eyes kindling. 
 
 As they talked, the sound of other voices came at in 
 tervals through the fog, while the speakers themselves 
 went past them like phantoms ; and the fragments of 
 sentences that reached them seemed but echoes of their 
 own words. War ! Battle ! Bloodshed ! All thought 
 and speech took the same trend. 
 
 "There is one bit of good news, though," said 
 Nathaniel; "Congress has appointed Colonel George 
 Washington commander-in-chief. They could hardly 
 have made a better choice." 
 
 "Ah, but the appointment of a commander-in-chief
 
 BUNKER HILL. 99 
 
 proves that they apprehend a general war," said the 
 girl. " Oh, it is too dreadful to think of, Nathaniel ! " 
 
 "War is always dreadful, and many times it might 
 be avoided ; but in the present case it seems inevitable, 
 since England leaves us no choice but slavery. Oh, 
 it s a glorious cause to fight for, Marjorie, the freedom 
 of one s native land ! And the East End is coming to 
 the fore nobly. General Wooster is forming a camp at 
 Oyster Ponds, 1 and volunteers are flocking in by scores. 
 I only wish I were there with them." 
 
 Margaret made no answer. She was saying to her 
 self, with a sob in her throat, that soon they would all 
 be going; and Nathaniel, respecting her silence, con 
 fined his remarks to Lord Lion. 
 
 l Now known as Orient.
 
 IOO AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 DEFENCELESS. 
 
 THE lights burned late in the village that night ; in 
 some of the houses they burned until daybreak. 
 The whole community was awake. Men in earnest 
 
 J 
 
 debate paced the street till the stars paled ; while others, 
 equally earnest, sat with closed doors and discussed the 
 day s dread tidings. 
 
 It was as if an earthquake had rocked the Island from 
 shore to shore ; and under the pressure of the hour youth 
 leaped into manhood; and old age forgot its years. It 
 was vain to go on hoping and praying that war might 
 be averted ; the time had come to act ; the battle was on, 
 with little likelihood of its being long confined to the Bay 
 Colony. Already the enemy might be hovering in the 
 vicinity waiting an opportunity to pounce upon the stock, 
 and the exposed extent of the East End coast made it 
 imperative for defensive measures to be taken at once. 
 The neighboring villages were in the same state of alarm, 
 and messengers had come post-haste to confer with the 
 Committee of Safety. 
 
 "Whatever measures you adopt, Southampton and 
 the Harbor will stand by you," said the Southampton 
 committee. " Our interests are one." And the two
 
 DEFENCELESS. IOI 
 
 committees, acting in concert, lost no time in represent 
 ing to the Provincial Congress the danger that threat 
 ened Montauk and Gardiner s Island. 
 
 But the days grew into weeks, and no help came. 
 
 "If ol Fishhook Mulford 1 was alive, he d fetch 
 em," said Silas Post. " He d march into Congress in 
 his tow trousers, jus as he did into Saint Jeemes s Court, 
 when he wanted em to take the tax off our whale oil, 
 an wouldn t give em a minute s peace till he got the 
 soldiers ordered down here." 
 
 " Doubtless all the troops that can be raised are needed 
 where the conflict is in progress," said Deacon Cook, 
 who, with Ben Huntting and Captain Herrick, had come 
 from Southampton to discuss the situation. "Congress, 
 we may be sure, would send us help if it were possible. 
 They know too well the importance of saving the East 
 End herds from the clutches of the enemy." 
 
 " They won t make us wait a day longer than is neces 
 sary, we can depend on that," said Aaron Neale. "And 
 meanwhile, the wisest thing we can do is to station our 
 own men on the Point." 
 
 "Well, if the East En keeps on, we ll have a putty 
 good showirT," remarked Silas, beginning to reckon 
 on his fingers with his crutch. " See, there s Zek el 
 Mulford s company, an Cap n Dave Pierson s, an now 
 they re gittin up one over to Mecox, an one at Sagg, 
 and that, with John Hurlburt s at Bridgehampton, and
 
 102 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Scuttle Hole, 11 make five, thout countin the Southamp- 
 toners, an the one the Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor 
 folks are gittin up. Hear bout Hurlburt s gittin his 
 commission? Seth Howell was tellin me. It happened 
 to come Lord s Day afternoon ; an the minute Parson 
 Brown said Amen to the benediction, John took his 
 stand at the meetin -house door, an made sech a stirrin 
 speech that he got his full number o volunteers on the 
 spot. Tell you, that s the way to do business. Nuthin 
 like takin time by the top-knot." 
 
 " Hurlburt, no doubt, found that out keeping tavern," 
 said Aaron Neale, with a smile. " He ll make a valiant 
 captain, but he can t be spared until we are sure of the 
 safety of our sheep and cattle. Till then we shall have 
 need of every man that we can muster." 
 
 They had but fairly begun to rally their forces when 
 word was received that Washington had informed Con 
 gress that the British fleet was in motion, with the inten 
 tion, apparently, of making a descent on Long Island ; 
 and that Congress, in reporting the danger to the Com 
 mittee, advised the latter to take measures at once to 
 secure the stock, and to employ for that purpose, until 
 the order should be countermanded, the companies that 
 were being raised in the neighborhood for the Continental 
 service. 
 
 "We ll do our best," said Captain Mulford ; "but 
 they can t expect us to hold the British fleet at bay with 
 a handful of undisciplined volunteers." 
 
 Throughout the village the wildest excitement pre 
 vailed. But when a week went by without bringing any
 
 DEFENCELESS. 1 03 
 
 signs of the dreaded fleet, every one began to take cour 
 age. 
 
 " Still, we needn t flatter ourselves that they are going 
 to give us the go-by," said Aaron Neale. " Supplies 
 are getting low in the vicinity of Boston, and sooner or 
 later we shall have the threatened visit." 
 
 " If the Committee had the sense to treat them civilly, 
 and let them have what they want at a fair price, it would 
 save all this trouble," said Prudence Golby. 
 * "There has been too much of that sort of civility 
 shown them already, Prudence," responded Aaron ; " and 
 all the towns and villages in the county have united in 
 prohibiting the sale of any more cattle to their agents, no 
 matter what price they offer." 
 
 "A wise measure it is too," said John Thurston ; 
 "for if the war goes on, all the sheep and cattle will be 
 needed for our own troops ; and for that very reason one 
 would think that Congress might find some way to aid us 
 in protecting them. Besides," he continued, walking 
 the floor with his hands clinched behind him, "the pa 
 triotism of the East End deserves recognition." 
 
 "Oh, come, John," protested Aaron, "we must not 
 begin to berate Congress. It is not because they are 
 unmindful of our adherence to the cause, we may be 
 sure of that ; but because they have no forces at com 
 mand that can be spared. Washington, they say, has 
 at most not over fourteen thousand men, and the ma 
 jority of them are raw militia, scant of both clothing 
 and ammunition, and ill-conditioned in every way ; yet 
 they are bravely beleaguering Boston, determined to
 
 104 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 starve the British out, and compel them to retreat 
 to their ships." 
 
 "Ay, and they ll do it too," answered his brother-in- 
 law; "but the very fact that they are cutting off their 
 landward supplies doubles our danger. Ah, here s 
 Brewster, and he has the look of one that brings good 
 tidings." 
 
 " I hope they will prove good," said the young man, 
 coming in with his riding-whip in his hand. " Four 
 companies from Wooster s camp at Oyster Ponds are 
 promised us, with Colonel Fanning in command : and 
 Captain Grinnell is to come at once to assist in saving 
 the stock and protecting the people from insult/ 
 
 "At last, thank God ! " cried John Thurston. 
 
 Betty Osgood was spending the day with Margaret, 
 and the two looked up with an eager welcome in their 
 faces ; but the young man was too preoccupied to do 
 more than give them a hasty bow. 
 
 "Ay, thank God, it is not yet too late," said Aaron 
 Neale. 
 
 But he had scarcely uttered the words when Captain 
 Dayton rushed in. 
 
 " God help us ! " he shouted. " Here you sit talking, 
 and the British fleet is in Gardiner s Bay two men-of- 
 war, two brigs, and an armed schooner, with half a dozen 
 or more transports." 
 
 The men sprang to their feet. 
 
 "God help us, indeed!" cried John Thurston; "it s 
 little we can do to help ourselves." 
 
 " But possibly we can do something to help our neigh-
 
 DEFENCELESS. IO5 
 
 bors," said Neale, snatching his musket from its wooden 
 brackets over the fireplace; " and there s no time to be 
 lost." 
 
 As they were leaving the house, Ben, with his old 
 uuck-gun in his hand, came hurrying to join them. But 
 before he reached the door his mother brought him to a 
 stand. 
 
 "Stay where you are," she commanded, grasping him 
 by the arm. "You re nothing but a boy, and there isn t 
 ant call for you to mix yourself up in this affair. Be 
 sides, there s no telling but you may be needed here." 
 
 His Uncle John, at the sight of his disappointed face, 
 was half tempted to interfere. But it was true that he 
 might be needed at home, in case the others were de 
 tained for the night. 
 
 " Yes, yes, Ben, you must consider yourself the home 
 guard. Thank you, child, thank you," he added to Mar 
 garet, who had run to get his powder-horn, "I should be 
 badly off without that." 
 
 At the gate, where Rex was pawing the ground, they 
 were joined by Ezekiel Mulford and Captain Hurlburt. 
 
 " Our men are mustering," cried Hurlburt ; " but what 
 can we do? The British have landed at the Manor, and 
 are already carrying off the cattle and sheep. What 
 other mischief they will do, God knows ! " 
 
 "First of all, we must get word to General Wooster 
 to despatch troops at once to the Island," said Aaron 
 Neale. 
 
 "But whom can we send?" asked Brewster, as he 
 vaulted into the saddle.
 
 IO6 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Go yourself, man," cried Mulford. " There isn t a 
 horse in the place that can equal Rex for speed. And 
 charge them, for God s sake, to make haste." 
 
 There was a moment s debate as to which would be 
 the shortest way to Oyster Ponds, and Rex and his 
 master were off. 
 
 Margaret and Betty, standing at the window, clutched 
 each other by the hand in a fever of excitement. 
 
 " Betty ! if we were only men ! " lamented Margaret. 
 
 "Much good twould do you, if you weren t any bet 
 ter off n I am," growled Ben, with a vicious kick at the 
 door-sill. "As if I couldn t fire a gun as well as Tom 
 Davis or Vet Dimon. Guess a fellow t can bring down 
 a duck on the wing wouldn t be apt to miss the mark 
 when he took aim at a redcoat." 
 
 " Have patience, Benjamin," counselled his grand 
 father. "Thou mayst soon be having more chances 
 than thou lt want, to prove thy skill." 
 
 " lie is not going to prove it by any disloyalty to our 
 gracious sovereign, King George," interposed his mother, 
 " not with my consent." 
 
 " Long live King George ! " screeched a vicious-look 
 ing parrot from her perch over the window. 
 
 " Oh ! shut up, Poll," muttered Ben. " King George 
 can live forever, for all I care ; but a fellow doesn t want 
 to stay cooped up in the house when all the rest of the 
 men are off fighting." 
 
 "There s no call for your staying cooped up," re 
 torted Prudence, relentlessly. "You can go finish dig 
 ging those potatoes in the south lot."
 
 DEFENCELESS. IO/ 
 
 And Ben obediently marched off to the potato-patch ; 
 but he carried his gun with him. 
 
 To the entire community the news of the approach of 
 the enemy was like a thunderbolt ; nor did the fact that 
 the fleet had halted at the Manor tend to lessen the anxi 
 ety, for no one dared to entertain the hope that the ships 
 would leave the neighborhood without visiting the main 
 land ; and with drear forebodings the people hastened 
 to make such preparations as they could for the defence 
 of their homes and property, the men taking care to put 
 out of sight all the implements of war that were not 
 wanted for immediate use, and the housewives losing 
 no time in rinding hiding-places for their small store of 
 family plate. 
 
 Colonel Gardiner, who as one of the guardians of 
 little John Lion and his brother, and also one of the ex 
 ecutors of the estate, was in charge of the Manor at the 
 time, had at once despatched messengers to both East- 
 hampton and Connecticut to give the alarm. But it was 
 impossible for the people on the Long Island shore to 
 render him any assistance ; for even if they had been 
 able to command the necessary forces, there were no 
 boats at hand to carry them across ; and when the Brit 
 ish, after a vain attempt to negotiate for the purchase of 
 the stock, began taking forcible possession of both stock 
 and produce, Colonel Gardiner and the tenants found 
 themselves compelled to leave the Island to its fate. 
 
 " Twould a broke the master s heart, had he lived 
 to see the day," said Jason Skrill. " They re worse n the 
 Spanish pirates I use to hear im tell about, an tain t
 
 108 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 no more good tryin to keep things out o their clutches 
 n if they s ravenin wolves." 
 
 "Ay, they re a thousand times worse than the pirates," 
 said Squire Hedges ; " for they are our kith and kin, and 
 might naturally be expected to show some sort of consid 
 eration for us. It s enough to make the dead rise out of 
 their graves to see the place so desecrated. 
 
 But before noon the next day Brewster returned, bring 
 ing the cheering intelligence that a large body of troops 
 had already set sail for the Manor. 
 
 " The news that the redcoats are plundering the 
 Island has spread far and wide," he said; " and volun 
 teers from all the western towns are pressing into Woos- 
 ter s camp, so there will be no lack of men; and as they 
 are not likely to get anything to eat at the Manor, we 
 shall have to be prepared to feed them." 
 
 It was a busy time for the housekeepers. Even Mis 
 tress Prudence Golby had the great brick oven heated, 
 and spent the day in the kitchen, helping Hagar with the 
 baking. 
 
 "They ll never forget you, Aunt Prudence," said 
 Margaret, delighted at this unlooked-for evidence of pa 
 triotism on the part of her aunt; " they ll be so hungry, 
 poor fellows, coming all the way from Oyster Ponds." 
 
 " Humph ! no telling who ll get the good of it," an 
 swered Prudence. "First come, first served." 
 
 "But, Aunt Prudence! you surely don t mean all 
 these good things for the enemy ! " cried the girl. 
 
 " It would only be according to Scripture, if they hap 
 pen to be hungry," said Prudence grimly. "But I m
 
 DEFENCELESS. 109 
 
 not disposed to consider them our enemies. If folks 
 would treat them with a little more respect, they d be the 
 best of friends." 
 
 Margaret, not caring to bring on a war of words, 
 remained silent. 
 
 "Go long, chile," said Hagar. " Dis yere kitchen 
 ain t big nough fo mo n two ob us to be putterin roun 
 to onct." 
 
 It was, in fact, an unusually large kitchen, and, with 
 its*rows of pewter plates and porringers aglitter on the 
 dresser shelves, its open windows and appetizing odors, 
 a very inviting one ; but the girl took the hint and walked 
 away. 
 
 J 
 
 Through the open door she saw her grandfather stand 
 ing at the gate, and she knew that he was there in the 
 -hope of learning from some passer-by whether or not 
 the troops had come. But the street was deserted ; for 
 the women were hard at work indoors, while the men and 
 boys, those at least who were not engaged in looking 
 after the flocks on the Meadows, were at Fireplace, 
 watching with straining eyes for the coming of Wooster s 
 forces. 
 
 "We might step down to the parsonage and see how 
 thy friend Jerusha fares," the old man suggested, when 
 she joined him. "It is a sore trial to come to her in 
 her widowhood." 
 
 " Oh, my heart aches for her," said the girl. " To 
 think of the dear old Manor being at the mercy of the 
 enemy ! " 
 
 "No, no, little one," chided her grandfather, " it is at
 
 1 10 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 the mercy of the Lord, and whatever evil is wrought, He 
 will overrule it for good." 
 
 It was not easy just then for Margaret to accept this 
 tenet, and she kept silent till they came opposite the 
 parsonage. 
 
 " It is pleasant walking," she said. 
 
 "Ay," answered the old Quaker promptly. And in 
 the peaceful summer sunshine, with the cool salt wind 
 tempering the heat, they w r ent on until they came in sight 
 of the crowd that had gathered at Fireplace. 
 
 " The troops from Oyster Ponds must be there by this 
 time," said Margaret, quickening her step. 
 
 But through all that August afternoon the people 
 watched in vain, and night at last shut down without 
 bringing the promised help. 
 
 " I can t understand it," said Brewster. " The order 
 had been given before I left for the troops to proceed at 
 once to the Island, and with this wind they should have 
 been there by noon at the latest." 
 
 The second day was but a repetition of the first. Every 
 hour brought fresh arrivals from the neighboring vil 
 lages ; and -each newcomer, especially if he chanced to 
 be on horseback, was eagerly hailed in the hope of his 
 bringing \vord from Oyster Ponds. But all were alike 
 ignorant of the cause of the delay. 
 
 "It is past belief that Wooster would intentionally 
 leave us in the lurch in this way," said Isaac Conkling. 
 
 "It is not intentional, I can vouch for that," answered 
 Lodowick Brewster. " It may be that he is planning to 
 trap them in some way."
 
 DEFENCELESS. 1 1 1 
 
 And, still nursing the forlorn hope, they watched an 
 other sun go down. 
 
 It was the eleventh of August, the fourth day after the 
 beginning of depredations at the Manor, and still no 
 help had come. 
 
 " It looks to me," said Aaron Neale, raising his field- 
 glass, "as if they were preparing to weigh anchor." 
 
 " God help us if they are meaning to cross over to 
 Montauk ! " cried Conkling. "Our Amagansett folks 
 are ^already half-crazed with fear." 
 
 "Hi! look!" shouted Ike Bennett, who had chosen 
 for a watch-tower the topmost crutch in a sturdy cedar. 
 " Here comes a sail. Tain t a Britisher, neither." 
 
 "At last, then, the fleet has started," cried Brewster, 
 confident that other sails would speedily heave in sight. 
 But they strained their tired eyes in vain. The boat 
 that had been sighted came on its way alone ; and, by the 
 time it reached the Manor, the robbers had sailed away 
 in triumph, laden with spoils. 
 
 Why this solitary vessel, with its meagre force it 
 was learned afterward that it carried only forty men 
 had come at that late hour, was a mystery that none of 
 them could solve. 
 
 "At least," said Jonathan Hedges, when disappoint 
 ment and consternation had given place to indignant 
 wrath, "we have the selfish consolation of finding our 
 selves unmolested." 
 
 "That s so," answered Silas Post; "but I d give a 
 penny to git acrost, and know jus what mischief the vil 
 lains have be n up to."
 
 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 It was mischief indeed ; for on investigation it was 
 found that they had carried off nearly twelve hundred 
 sheep, besides sixty head of cattle and hogs, and a large 
 quantity of hay. 1 
 
 "And the worst of it is," said Captain Dayton, " it all 
 goes to strengthen the enemy." 
 
 "Ay, that s decidedly the worst of it," said Squire 
 Hedges, clenching his hands. 
 
 Just then Lodowick Brewster rode up. 
 
 " The mystery is explained," he cried fiercely. " The 
 troops, after starting for the Manor, were met by parties 
 who informed them that the British had left the Island ; 
 and, supposing that their services were no longer needed, 
 they turned back." 
 
 " Those that carried that message," said Aaron Neale, 
 " must have been in league with the enemy." 
 
 "Ay," answered Brewster, "it is very evident that 
 the marauders knew that they had nothing to fear. 
 Thank God, they saw fit to sail away without crossing 
 over. The Meadows would have been completely at 
 their mercy." 
 
 "But they say they left word they re coinin agin, 
 with troops enough to plunder all Long Islan ," droned 
 Olin Dole, with a lengthened face. 
 
 "Forewarned is forearmed, remember, Olin, an 
 swered Brewster cheerfully. 
 
 But the rumor of this threat, which was not without 
 foundation, caused fresh dismay. By order of the County 
 
 1 Full particulars of this raid are given in Gardiner s " Chronicles of East- 
 hampton."
 
 DEFENCELESS. I I 3 
 
 Committee, the remainder of the Manor stock, with the 
 exception of a few horses, was at once taken off and 
 sold for Continental money : but Montauk was still in 
 jeopardy ; and, to add to the fear and anxiety that pre 
 vailed, it began to be reported that General Wooster, 
 whose camp at Oyster Ponds had been their chief reli 
 ance, had received orders to join the main army. 
 
 Twice during the remainder of the month word came 
 that some of the British ships had set sail westward, and 
 wer probably planning a descent on Montauk ; and, 
 though in both instances the alarm proved groundless, 
 the people were kept in hourly apprehension.
 
 114 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 AN EMBARGO. 
 
 IN the intervals between these frequent alarms, the 
 men were in the fields, working as if for their lives, 
 not knowing at what moment they might have to seize 
 their guns, and rush to the Meadows to protect the stock. 
 Many of the earlier volunteers from the East End were 
 already in the army, and those that had remained as a 
 home guard were but scantily furnished with muskets 
 and ammunition. It was not a hopeful outlook ; and, 
 before the summer ended, Wooster had broken camp at 
 Oyster Ponds, and marched northward. 
 
 Still, in most ways, in spite of the steadily darkening 
 outlook, the daily life went on, apparently the same as 
 in other years : in the barns could be heard the thud of 
 the flail on the threshing-floor, and the fall of the brake 
 on the undressed flax, while in the gray old houses 
 sounded from morning till night the monotonous whir of 
 the spinning-wheel ; and when, from time to time, a weft 
 on the tall pole surmounting the sand-dunes signalled to 
 the community that a whale had been sighted, the whal 
 ing squadrons manned their boats, and dashed into the 
 breakers with as keen a zest as ever. 
 
 But, in whatever way the people were employed, they
 
 AN EMBARGO. I I 5 
 
 carried heavy hearts through all that dreary autumn ; 
 and Thanksgiving Day, which had hitherto been joy 
 ously observed in the old New England fashion, was 
 turned into a day of fasting and prayer, for who could 
 feast with that death s head at the table? Even when on 
 New Year s Eve they gathered about the blazing hearth, 
 instead of repeating the songs and stories with which 
 they had been wont to watch the old year out, they sat 
 with knitted brows, and discussed the progress of the 
 war. 
 
 " It s slow work they re making of it," said Squire 
 Osborn, as he filled his pipe ; " and it s that that s eating 
 out the heart of the people. The delay and uncertainty 
 are harder to bear than active warfare." 
 
 "Ay, and every day s delay," responded Jonathan 
 Hedges, " is giving the enemy time to bring over more 
 troops." 
 
 "Well, they re likely to need all they can get," said 
 Aaron Neale ; "for, in addition to being obliged to keep 
 Boston strongly garrisoned, they are having their hands 
 full to hold their own in Canada ; and that, perhaps, is 
 one reason that we are left so long unmolested." 
 
 "Well, for my part, if they re comin , I wish they d 
 come, and have done with it," said Silas Post. "It s 
 this everlastin seesawin -- hope teeterin up one day, 
 an down the next that s takin the heart out o me" 
 
 "That s an ill-timed wish, Silas," answered Neale. 
 "Let us thank the Lord that their coming is deferred. 
 With our scant supply of men and ammunition, we could 
 hardly hope to withstand them."
 
 Il6 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "If they ll only wait until Congress sends the prom 
 ised help," said John Thurston, "we shall have just 
 cause for thankfulness ; but Congress seems to have 
 forgotten us." 
 
 " Patience, John, patience," counselled Aaron ; " Con 
 gress is doubtless doing its best." 
 
 And at last there seemed a prospect that their patience 
 was to be rewarded, for the official assurance came that 
 strenuous efforts were being made to raise troops for the 
 protection of the stock. 
 
 It was early in the new year that this information was 
 received ; and, with hope again uppermost, the people 
 roused themselves to consider in what way they could 
 best provide for the expected forces. To lay an em 
 bargo prohibiting, until spring, the sale and exportation 
 of all provisions, seemed the wisest course ; and for the 
 purpose of drafting a memorial to that effect to be sub 
 mitted to Congress, it was decided that the committees 
 of Easthampton, Southampton, and Shelter Island should 
 convene at the Harbor on the eighth day of February. 
 
 " I wish I were going with you," said Margaret, find 
 ing that her father was to attend the meeting. 
 
 "Why not go? That reminds me, daughter, that I 
 met Ben Coleman the other day, and he said that 
 Lucinda was wanting a visit from you." 
 
 A trip to the Harbor was a rare treat to the girl, and 
 she made haste to get ready. 
 
 " It will be a fine jaunt for thee, little one," said her 
 grandfather; "but keep her well muffled, Aaron," he 
 enjoined, putting in the family cloak, and tucking the
 
 "THEY SAT WITH KNITTED BROWS AND DISCUSSED THE PROGRESS OF 
 THE WAR."
 
 AN EMBARGO. 1 1 / 
 
 foot-stove under the fox-skin lap-robe, as Aaron gath 
 ered up the reins. 
 
 " Such coddling ! " sniffed Prudence. But Margaret 
 leaned down from the rickety chaise, and kissed the old 
 man, warmed to the heart by his motherly care for her 
 comfort. 
 
 Before they were fairly out of the village, they were 
 overtaken by Lodowick Brewster. 
 
 4 "What, Marjorie, do you, too, belong to the commit 
 tee? he asked, smiling down on her from the saddle. 
 And then he and her father fell to discussing the ques 
 tion of the day ; and Margaret, seemingly for the time 
 forgotten, had an excellent opportunity to study the 
 wintry landscape, but she lost no word of the conver 
 sation. 
 
 In front of Howell s Inn they met Mr. Thomas Bering 
 from Shelter Island, and Mr. Samuel L Hommedieu, 
 and Captain David Hand. 
 
 "What news, friends?" asked Aaron Neale. 
 
 " Nothing very encouraging, Aaron," answered Mr. 
 L Hommedieu, who was shaking hands with Margaret. 
 " It is rumored that Governor Tryon, of whom we had 
 hoped better things, is plotting mischief with the New 
 York Tories, and using the Asia in seizing vessels laden 
 with provisions for the Continentals." 
 
 "Ah, it is a wretched state of things," said Mr. Ber 
 ing. " In Boston the British are spending the time in 
 revelling and play-going, while the inhabitants are on the 
 verge of starvation. Our forces are still beleaguering 
 the town, but are unable to take any decisive step for
 
 Il8 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 lack of arms and ammunition ; and General Washington 
 is at his wits end." 
 
 "Yes, the general has his hands full," answered 
 Neale ; "and with Congress, too, so overburdened, we 
 oughtn t to complain if our petitions don t receive prompt 
 attention. Our turn will come in due time." 
 
 When they stopped at the Colemans , Brewster sprung 
 from the saddle, and helped Margaret out, before her 
 father had put down the reins. And then the door flew 
 open, and Lucinda Coleman ran out to greet them. She 
 wore a long linen apron, and her plump arms were bare 
 to the elbow. 
 
 "I can t shake hands with thee, for I ve just taken 
 mine from the bread-tray," she said, carefully keeping 
 herself from coming in contact with Margaret s black 
 cloak ; but she put up her lips and kissed her. 
 
 " What, can you make bread, Lucinda?" asked Aaron 
 Neale. "Why, you are going ahead of Madge! She 
 can tell you all about making pumpkin-cake and dough 
 nuts, but I don t think she has ever tried her hand at 
 bread." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I have, once ! " laughed Madge ; " but it 
 was so heavy that Aunt Prudence pronounced it fit for 
 nothing but bullets, and I ve never had the courage to 
 try again." 
 
 " Well, bullets are sorely needed just now, answered 
 her father. "But run in, girls. You will take cold, 
 Lucinda, standing there in the wind ; and make the 
 most of your time, Meg, for we shall probably be back 
 in an hour or two."
 
 AN EMBARGO. 119 
 
 "And Lucinda must have some hot coals for you," 
 said Brewster, as he handed her the foot-stove from the 
 chaise. 
 
 " Nay, hot coals are for our enemies," answered Lu 
 cinda, demurely. " I am so glad to see thee," she said, 
 drawing Margaret in. " Betsy Bering is here. She 
 came across with her father." 
 
 Margaret and Betsy had been friends from childhood, 
 and each gave a little cry of delight at this unexpected 
 meeting. Both had brought knitting-work ; and Lu 
 cinda, when she had put her bread in the oven, joined 
 them with her needles and ball. 
 
 " If the war keeps on," said Margaret, " socks as 
 well as bullets will be wanted for the soldiers, and the 
 more we can knit the better." 
 
 "I was in New London last week, visiting Mrs. 
 Angel," said Betsy ; " and no one could talk of anything 
 but the war. The sewing-society met there one after 
 noon, and they voted that, instead of working for the 
 church, as they had been doing, they would begin at 
 once to make up clothing for the soldiers ; and some of 
 them are gathering up all their old pewter to run into 
 bullets. They mean to be ready for whatever comes ; 
 and Mrs. Angel says that, if there is any occasion for it, 
 she is going to turn her house into a hospital. Twould 
 make a fine one, it is so large and airy ; but one shud 
 ders to think of the possibility of its having to be used 
 for such a purpose." 
 
 "Mrs. Angel is always doing good, in one way or 
 another," said Margaret. "She is father s cousin; and
 
 120 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 we never go to see her but we find her with some benev 
 olent work in hand." 
 
 "Yes, and one can t be with her without catching 
 some of her enthusiasm," added Betsy. " She has two 
 looms running, and I have promised to send her all my 
 spinnings to be woven into blankets and blouses. I am 
 so glad there is something I can do to help." 
 
 "Thee is like thy kinswoman, Miss Patience Sylves 
 ter," said Lucinda. " I ve heard grandmother say that 
 once, when some one remarked that she must be very 
 proud of the family w r ealth and her own goodly belong 
 ings, she answered, No, I am not proud of my father s 
 ships, nor of our fine linen and costly wardrobes ; but I 
 am proud of one thing I know how to spin. 
 
 "Yes, I have heard the story," said Betsy, with a 
 laugh. "It is one of our family heirlooms, and I ve 
 always been proud that she had so much sense. She 
 married Mr. Benjamin L Hommedieu, who fell in love 
 with her one Sunday morning, on seeing her seated un 
 der a canopy on a barge, with six negroes at the oars. 
 There was no church on Shelter Island at that time, and 
 the family attended services at Southold. It has always 
 seemed to me such a pretty romance. Oh ! here comes 
 father." 
 
 "I wish thee could stay over till next week," said 
 Lucinda. 
 
 But Mr. Dering turned a deaf ear to this proposition. 
 
 "The times are too uncertain," he said. "The ene 
 my s fleet may appear in the bay at any hour." 
 
 Margaret was more fortunate ; for it was so near night
 
 AN EMBARGO. 121 
 
 when her father came for her, that Lucinda had no 
 trouble in persuading him to leave her. 
 
 Sag Harbor at that time was merely a hamlet ; and the 
 handful of houses scarcely more than a baker s dozen, 
 all told were clustered, the most of them, in the vicin 
 ity of the long wharf. But it was a stirring little place, 
 the coming and going of vessels from the neighboring 
 ports serving to give it an air of enterprise and impor 
 tance that made it the envy of the Hamptons. Besides, 
 it had already opened a trade with the West Indies ; and 
 plans had been formed for a large increase of shipping, 
 and an extension of the whaling business. But all these 
 projects had come to a stop, for there was no longer any 
 safety on either land or sea. 
 
 But the people still went to church. 
 
 " Hark ! " Margaret cried, when on Sunday morning 
 the beating of a drum broke the stillness. " Is that an 
 alarm? or do your people train on Lord s Day?" 
 
 " No, indeed, it is a peace call thee hears," answered 
 Lucinda, who w r as carefully bowing under her pretty 
 chin the dove-colored ribbons of her prim Quaker bon 
 net. "It is the only way they have of letting the people 
 know that it is meeting-time." 
 
 The meeting-house l was a huge, barn-like building, 
 planned, evidently, with the expectation of an increase 
 in the population ; and, like most of the early places of 
 worship, it was set on the pinnacle of a hill, exposed to 
 the full force of every stormy blast. The walls and ceil- 
 
 1 This church, dating from 1768, stood until 1817, when it was pulled down. 
 The one erected in its place is now the Masonic Hall.
 
 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 ing were unplastered, and the seats were like millstones 
 in their hard, cold comfort ; but the little congregation 
 drew close together, and, hovering over the foot-stoves, 
 listened with conscientious attention to a sermon written 
 half a century before by one of the old New England 
 divines. The sermon was somewhat heavy ; but it was 
 read by Mr. Samuel L Hommedieu, and his magnetic 
 voice held his hearers until the last "head was dis 
 posed of. But when they stood up to sing, there were 
 some who forgot to join in the hymn : for they could see 
 from the high, narrow windows the wide sweep of the 
 bay, and the temptation to scan the waters for a sail was 
 too strong to be resisted. When the service was over, 
 cold as they were, they lingered to shake hands ; but 
 instead of commenting on the weather, and making 
 neighborly inquiries concerning each other s health, 
 every one asked anxiously for the latest war news. 
 
 As the two girls went shivering down the hill, Cap 
 tain Ephraim Fordham came hurrying after them to give 
 Margaret a message for her father. He was an old 
 friend, and Margaret was a favorite with him. 
 
 "Tell him that I expect to sail bright and earlv on 
 Wednesday morning, if wind and tide are favorable," 
 he said. " And see here, little woman," he added, " if 
 any time you want to go across to see your friends in 
 New London, just let me know. I ll probably be cruis 
 ing round somewhere betwixt here and the Thames." 
 
 Margaret thanked him, thinking that there was little 
 likelihood of her going beyond the Harbor while the war 
 lasted. But she was not a sibyl.
 
 A MOONLIGHT WALK. 123 
 
 CHAPTER XII. . 
 
 A MOONLIGHT WALK. 
 
 Congress approves of the embargo? " said John 
 Thurston, three weeks later, to his brother-in- 
 law, who had just returned from New York in Captain 
 Fordham s sloop. 
 
 " Yes, and recommends it to be made general through 
 out the country." 
 
 "I like that," said Thnrston. "It looks as if they 
 were really intending to send the promised troops, and 
 wanted us to be prepared to feed them." 
 
 " Oh ! they are going to stand by us. And how soon 
 we may have need of their protection, God knows. 
 Squire Wickham says it is thought that there is some 
 new enterprise on foot among the British. What it is 
 has not yet come to light, and the uncertainty makes 
 every one anxious. I stayed with Brother Erastus. 
 Poor fellow ! he is still bedridden from the injuries 
 that so nearly ended his life at the taking of Quebec ; 
 but, like hundreds of other New York patriots, he says 
 that all that he has is at the service of the colonies." 
 
 "Aaron Neale ! " shrieked Prudence, bursting into the 
 room in her best bonnet and gown, for it was Monday 
 afternoon an afternoon which, from the beginning, the
 
 124 A ^ ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Hampton housewives had devoted to social visiting, and 
 the woman that failed to have her washing out in time 
 for this interchange of neighborly civilities was looked 
 upon as a very lax housekeeper "if you don t want 
 that girl of yours killed outright, do, for mercy sake, go 
 out to the pasture-lot, and forbid her trying to ride that 
 colt ! " 
 
 "The colt! " cried John Thurston. " She might as 
 well undertake to ride a wild steer." 
 
 But when they reached the pasture-lot, instead of find 
 ing Lord Lion with his heels in the air, they found him 
 pacing proudly across the enclosure, obedient to the 
 lightest touch on the reins. 
 
 " Well, well, that isn t so bad," said Aaron Neale. 
 
 But the next minute Lion broke into a gallop, and 
 went flying past them as if trying to outstrip some unseen 
 rival. 
 
 "There now, see that ! " exclaimed Ben. " I told her 
 she ought to let me ride him first. She thinks because 
 he has let Lod Brewster ride him round the lot once or 
 twice that he s all right. That s as much as girls know 
 about breaking a colt." 
 
 "For Heaven s sake, do stop the brute! He ll be 
 the death of her ! " cried Prudence, in genuine alarm ; 
 while Betty Osgood, who was spending the afternoon 
 with Margaret, stood wringing her hands, speechless 
 with terror. 
 
 " Yo s better let Wick turn he p yo , my dirl," pipec 1 
 Rick, who, astride the bars, was watching proceedings 
 with white-rimmed eyes.
 
 A MOONLIGHT WALK. 
 
 " Quit clat nonsense, yo young chipmunk," chided 
 Hagar, catching him by the shoulder. " Yo want to 
 he p Miss Marge go ridin to her def?" 
 
 " Don t be frightened, friends. Margaret can man 
 age him," called Lodowick Brewster, joining the anx 
 ious group at the bars. Lion, at the same instant, 
 whether of his own free will, or at a hint from his mis 
 tress, no one knew, faced about, and presently, sidling 
 up like a frisky kitten, laid his nose in Brewster s hand. 
 
 <* That was well done, Marjorie," said the young 
 man, lifting her from the saddle. "You are making 
 good progress." 
 
 " Thou hast stolen a march on us, little one," said her 
 grandfather, who, bareheaded, had followed the others 
 out. " I wonder that thou hadst the courage to do it." 
 
 " Oh ! there was nothing to be afraid of," the girl ans 
 wered, brushing the loosened curls from her rosy face. 
 " Lion minds so readily, and Lodowick has taught me 
 how to keep him in hand. I only wanted to let Betty 
 see how gentle he is. Grandpa, you will take cold 
 without your hat." 
 
 " Lion is very easily governed by any one he likes," 
 said Brewster, quietly taking off his hat, and putting it 
 on the old man s head. 
 
 " I am sure I shouldn t dare to mount him," protested 
 Betty. "When I ride, I want it to be on a pillion be 
 hind some one w r ho knows how-to manage a horse." 
 
 "That s the only proper way for a woman to ride," 
 said Prudence, severely. 
 
 "It s the safer way, without doubt, if Lion were able
 
 126 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 to carry double," Aaron Neale replied, as he smoothed 
 Meg s hair; "but it will do her no harm to know how 
 to ride alone, especially in times like these." 
 
 " Pretty times, indeed, when a staid old Quaker goes 
 masquerading in a soldier s hat," said her grandfather, 
 holding himself very erect as he turned toward the 
 house. 
 
 "You dear old gran dad ! " cried Margaret, slipping 
 her arm through his, "if it were not for your gray hairs, 
 I believe you would put one on in earnest." 
 
 "I should be sorely tempted to, child. More than 
 one of the Society have done it. I have just had a 
 letter from our kinswoman, Mary Bowne of Flushing, 
 saying that both her husband and son, two of our 
 stanchest members, have severed their connection with 
 the Friends, and gone into the army ; and if I were a 
 few years younger, I know not but I might follow their 
 example. But it is better as it is, perhaps. If the others 
 have to go, thou mayst need me, little one." 
 
 "To be sure I shall. I shall always need you, grand 
 pa," said the girl, with a shiver, though the day was as 
 mild as mid-April ; and when they reached the house, 
 she suffered her father to take back the hat to Brewster, 
 who was walking behind with Betty. 
 
 During the afternoon there had been vapory racks 
 scudding at intervals across the sky ; but toward night 
 these broke away, leaving a clear red glow along the 
 horizon. 
 
 " The wind is sou west, and there is going to be a fine 
 surf," said Brewster, who had very willingly consented
 
 A MOONLIGHT WALK. 12*] 
 
 to stay to supper ; "I think it would repay us to take a 
 run to the beach." 
 
 A full moon, high in the east, lent its enticement to 
 this proposition ; and, although Prudence declared that 
 they must all be crazy to want to go rambling on the 
 shore at that time of year, the girls eagerly put on their 
 wraps. 
 
 When they returned, Betty, on reaching the gate, said 
 that it was time for her to go home ; whereupon Brewster 
 promptly offered himself as her escort. 
 
 " Come with us, Majorie," he urged. " The evening 
 is too fine to be spent in-doors." 
 
 Betty, dearly as she loved her cousin, made but a 
 faint response to this ; but Margaret, seeing that Brews 
 ter was really in earnest, accepted the invitation with 
 no suspicion that Betty would have preferred to have 
 her decline it. 
 
 " See what a circle around the moon," she said, when 
 they turned to go back, after bidding Betty good 
 night. 
 
 "And only one star in it," answered Lodowick. 
 "I m afraid a storm is brewing." 
 
 "And, according to the sign, it is not far off." 
 
 " No, it is not far off. And another storm is brewing 
 in Boston. A project is on foot which, if successful, is 
 likely to cause a tempest in the enemy s camp. It is not 
 yet fully matured." 
 
 " But successful or unsuccessful, it means more blood 
 shed," said the girl sorrowfully. " How anxious every 
 one must be who has friends on either side. Poor Deb-
 
 128 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 orah ! Will Bragdon, I suppose, is likely to be in the 
 thick of it." 
 
 "Ay, and for that I envy him. Would God I too 
 could be there ! " 
 
 "But you you are needed here, Lodowick." And 
 between the words she caught her breath with a gasp. 
 
 "Yes, for the present. That is why I stay. Other 
 wise I should go to-morrow." 
 
 " Oh ! but what would your sister Frances do without 
 you? And Debby, and all of us ?" 
 
 Brewster s hand closed over the slender fingers that 
 rested on his arm. 
 
 " Nay, the question is, what should I do without you, 
 sweetheart?" he said, looking down at the sad young 
 face. " Let me tell you a story, Margaret. It hap 
 pened years ago, when I was but an urchin. I had been 
 away with sister Frances, visiting friends in Jamaica ; 
 and the morning after \ve came home, your Uncle John 
 told me that there was a baby at Mrs. Neale s, a curly- 
 headed little maid, nearly a fortnight old. Some day, 
 if you are a good boy, you can see her, he graciously 
 assured me. But I was too impatient to wait, and march 
 ing boldy in, I told the nurse that I wanted to see Mrs. 
 Neale s baby. The nurse shook her head, and said she 
 didn t know about it. But a voice from the next room 
 called to her; and I heard Mrs. Neale say, Of course 
 Lodowick can see the baby. And presently the nurse 
 came back, bringing something rolled in a soft white 
 blanket. Now be careful, she said, laying the white 
 roll in my arms. And, when the blanket was turned
 
 A MOONLIGHT WALK. 12C) 
 
 back, the little one opened her eyes, and cooed to me. 
 That was seventeen years ago, sweetheart ; and I have 
 loved the little one ever since." 
 
 It was a full minute before Margaret found her voice. 
 
 "But, Lodowick, I thought I thought it was Betty 
 that you loved." 
 
 " Nay. Betty is a dear girl, and \ve are firm friends ; 
 but my heart has had but the one love all these years. 
 Perhaps I ought not to have told you," he went on, after 
 a*moment s silence, " not until these troublous times are 
 over ; but I could not bear the thought of going into 
 battle without your knowing. O love ! my little love ! " 
 
 The girl laid her cheek against his arm. She did not 
 need to put her love into words ; she was sure that he 
 had known it always, for she could not remember the 
 time when she had not loved him. 
 
 The street was deserted, for it was nearing nine ; 
 within doors the fires were covered, and only here and 
 there a light gleamed in the windows ; the graves in the 
 little burying-ground were not stiller than the homes of 
 the living; and this absolute silence impressed the lovers 
 as the crowning fitness of the hour. They seemed to 
 be walking in a world from which all other human be 
 ings were shut out. The hushed street, flooded with the 
 moon s soft radiance, was a vast cathedral isle ; and, like 
 a mighty organ, the sea, so close at hand, was sending 
 up a gloria. 
 
 "Lodowick," said Margaret abruptly, "what will 
 my Aunt Prudence say?" 
 
 "That is past my guessing, sweetheart; but what
 
 I3O AX ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 does it matter, since your father and grandfather have 
 long ago given me a godspeed ? But I am wondering 
 what Nathaniel will say. There was a time when I 
 imagined he was going to be the winner of the prize 
 I coveted." 
 
 " Oh ! I think of Nathaniel very much as I think 
 of Ben. He always calls me his twin, because we 
 are exactly the same age. Don t you remember the 
 baby at Mrs. Gardiner s as well as the one at Mrs. 
 Neale s?" 
 
 Before Brewster could give his reminiscence on this 
 point, they espied, loping toward them, with his own 
 black shadow loping along the ground beside him, a tall, 
 lank figure swathed in a heavy blanket. 
 
 " Big Sam is late on the road to-night," said Brewster. 
 "What news, Sam?" 
 
 "Letter," answered Sam, holding out a sealed bud 
 get. And without wasting any more words, he drew 
 his blanket together, and went on. 
 
 And now long gray pennons, interspersed \\it\i ragged 
 patches of cloud, were streaming up the west. 
 
 " They are newspapers and mares tails, " said Lo- 
 dowick ; "and clouds of that sort, according to sailor 
 lore, make tall vessels lower their sails. The storm 
 will be here soon." 
 
 The front door was unfastened ; and though the entry 
 was dark, a line of light at the threshhold on the west 
 side told Margaret that her grandfather was still up. 
 
 "Is it thou, Margaret?" he asked, peering out, and 
 revealing behind him a cheery fire on the hearth. Come
 
 A MOONLIGHT WALK. 131 
 
 in, child, and warm thyself. And them, too, Lodowick. 
 The night is chilly." 
 
 The young people had not been aware of any chill 
 in the atmosphere ; but the fire looked inviting, and 
 Brewster was impatient to know what tidings his letter 
 held. 
 
 At the sound of their voices, Aaron Neale, roused 
 from a nap on the settle in the keeping-room, came tip- 
 toping in without his boots. 
 
 " News, Lodowick? " he asked eagerly, as the young 
 man lifted his head. 
 
 " It is a letter from Nathan Hale, one of our college 
 boys. He was teaching school in New London at the 
 time of the battle of Lexington ; and he at once resigned 
 his position, and entered the army. He writes that meas 
 ures are to be taken immediately to drive the enemy out 
 of Boston." 
 
 " God grant they rrray carry ! " said Neale, fervently. 
 
 "Amen to that with all my heart ! " responded Brews 
 ter. " But when the enemy sails out of Boston Harbor, 
 it will be well for us to be doubly on our guard." 
 
 "That is true. Boston s deliverance may bring new 
 danger to Long Island," Aaron Neale said, slowly. 
 "Nevertheless, God speed the day." 
 
 " If we could only have a hand in it ! " said Brewster, 
 as he folded the letter. "It is torture to have to stand 
 idle when such issues are at stake." 
 
 "Ay, indeed it is," answered Neale, following him 
 through the dusky entry. 
 
 Behind them came Margaret with a light.
 
 132 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "Shade your candle, Meg, or the wind will blow it 
 out," cautioned her father. 
 
 But Meg s eyes were putting the candle to shame : 
 and her father, perceiving it, and perceiving, too, that 
 Brewster seemed inclined to linger, considerately said 
 good-night, and withdrew.
 
 AN UNEXPECTED PRIZE. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 AN UNEXPECTED PRIZE. 
 
 TT7HEN Margaret went back to her grandfather s 
 \ V room, she found the two men seated before the 
 lire ; and standing between them, with an arm over the 
 shoulder of each, she told them, with a sweet and seri 
 ous frankness, that Lodowick Brewster had asked her 
 to be his wife. 
 
 " Ah, Meg, you have won a man after mv own heart," 
 said her father, drawing her down to his knee. "But 
 he need be in no haste about claiming you, child. We 
 must have no marrying nor giving in marriage till the 
 war is over." 
 
 " Oh ! he has no mind to marry until peace is re 
 stored," said Margaret, quickly. 
 
 Her grandfather rose from his chair, and laid his hand 
 on her head. 
 
 "The Lord bless thee, little one," he said, earnestly. 
 
 "Thank you, grandpa; thank you." And the girl 
 pressed the wrinkled hand lovingly to her soft young 
 cheek. " But we are keeping you up," she said, with a 
 catch in her voice. 
 
 "Yes, yes, be off," said her father. " It is time we 
 were all in bed." But he took her in his arms, and
 
 134 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 kissed her tenderly before he let her go. " Good-night, 
 and God bless thee, little daughter," he added he was 
 prone to fall back into the Quaker manner of speech 
 when greatly moved. " Would God thy mother had 
 been spared ! " And Margaret went up-stairs repeating 
 the wish with passionate longing. 
 
 She carried no light, for through her narrow windows, 
 with their diamond panes, the moon was shining ; and 
 she was not in the habit of having a candle when there 
 was a moon to see by. "What was the moon for," her 
 Aunt Prudence had said, "if not to save candles?" 
 And to-night the tender radiance was like a benediction. 
 She knelt by the window, and looked up into the peace 
 ful face, peaceful and gentle as that of a mother. 
 Oh, for a mother to whom to tell her joy ! There was 
 her Aunt Prudence in the next room ; and some time 
 she would have to be told, but not to-night. She would 
 sooner make old Hagar the sharer of her new happi 
 ness. How suddenly it had come to her ! And how 
 hard it was to realize that it was herself, and not Betty, 
 that he loved. Poor Betty ! How was she ever to tell 
 her? But Lodowick had said that Betty and he were 
 fast friends, and it might be that it was only as a friend 
 that Betty cared for him. 
 
 Presently she became aware that a heavy black cloud 
 was creeping over the moon, and that the wind was ris 
 ing ; the tall pine by the window was beginning to rake 
 the side of the house, and every shutter groaned and 
 rattled. 
 
 " The storm is coming, but Lodowick loves me,"
 
 AN UNEXPECTED PRIZE. 135 
 
 she said softly ; and with that thought warm at her 
 heart she went to sleep, and slept soundly in spite of 
 the wind. 
 
 By morning the gale had increased to a tempest. 
 
 " It is a good day for spinning," she said ; and to the 
 rush of the storm without and the whir of the wheel within, 
 her heart sang over and over, " Lodowick loves me." 
 
 In the afternoon Lodowick himself, dripping like a 
 merman, came to the door. But though Margaret had 
 fyeen watching for him, her Aunt Prudence, who chanced 
 at the moment to be hurrying down the stairs, reached 
 the door ahead of her. 
 
 "Thank you, I am too wet to come in," he said, in 
 response to Mrs. Golby s formal invitation to enter. "I 
 stopped merely to say that the report received last night 
 has been officially confirmed." 
 
 Though he was quite honest in making this statement, 
 he had hoped to make it to some one else, and he heartily 
 wished that Mistress Golby had staid up-stairs. But sud 
 denly, behind Mrs. Golby, who was keeping an appre 
 hensive eye on his muddy boots, there was a vision of a 
 slim figure poised on the threshold, with the blaze on the 
 hearth for a background ; and with a light in his eyes 
 that was sweeter than a caress, he bowed with uncovered 
 head, and was gone. 
 
 On the following morning the storm was still rioting. 
 From the shore, mingling with the tumult of the wind 
 and rain, came the roar of the breakers ; and Margaret, 
 standing at her window , saw that great white-tufted 
 w r aves were breaking over the Shark s Head.
 
 136 AH ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " It must have been a rough night at sea," she said to 
 herself. 
 
 At the breakfast-table the weather was the first thing 
 spoken of; but, like every other subject that chanced to 
 come up, it ended with the war. 
 
 " If the wind rages like this in Boston Bay, "said Aaron 
 Neale, " the enemy s shipping will be likely to suffer." 
 
 " In all probability it is quite as severe there as here," 
 answered John Thurston. "It is an east storm." 1 
 
 And then they fell to wondering what method Wash 
 ington would be likely to adopt to dislodge the enemy, 
 and whether or not the attack had already begun. 
 
 A little later, as Margaret sat spinning, Brewster 
 drove up in a two-seated wagon. The Committee, he 
 said, had just received word from Montaukett that a ship 
 had come ashore in the night. 
 
 "It is the prize-ship Sally," he added. "She was at 
 one time owned bv parties in New York, but had been 
 captured by the British ; and here she lies, stranded at 
 our door, with fourteen redcoats on board, besides the 
 captain. Old Job brought the news. The Committee 
 has ordered them to be taken into custody, and Squire 
 Hedges wished me to call for your father and Captain 
 Thurston to go with me to the Point." 
 
 "What s that, Lodowick ? " inquired Aaron Neale, 
 coming in with his brother-in-law while Lodowick was 
 
 o 
 
 speaking. "The Sally, did you say? " 
 
 "Ay, the Sally, with crew and captain. It s a rare 
 prize, too." l 
 
 1 See Gardiner s " Chronicles of Easthampton."
 
 AN UNEXPECTED PRIZE. 137 
 
 "Ay, it is that," said John Thurston. And then the 
 three men hurried off. 
 
 At the edge of the desert they overtook Job Lumley, 
 mounted on a limping gray nag. 
 
 "Your beast looks jaded, Job," said Brewster. "Tie 
 her on behind, and jump in. You ll find it rather more 
 comfortable than plodding against this wind on horse 
 back." 
 
 " Thank y , sir, I don t mind if I do," Job answered. 
 "A. man ain t got any right to be ridin a limpin animal." 
 
 "So at last the British have landed at Montaukett," 
 remarked John Thurston, as Job climbed over the back 
 board. 
 
 "Ay, they have that, Cap n," chuckled Job; "an 
 as many more can Ian in the same way as the Lord sees 
 fitten to send. We won t hinder em." 
 
 But freely as the jests were bandied by the way, the 
 Committee, on reaching the stranded vessel, went about 
 its business gravely ; and, after a careful examination 
 had been made and minuted, it was decided to send the 
 shipwrecked crew under guard to New York. 
 
 " It s a good day s work," said Burnet Miller, rubbing 
 his hands with satisfaction. 
 
 " Yes," responded Colonel Gardiner ; " but our action 
 in the matter is not likely to bring us any increase of 
 favor with Governor Tryon. The captain of the Sally 
 is mate of the Asia," he added significantly. 
 
 " Oho, I see," said Miller. " But if reports be true 
 concerning the governor, we can do without his favor. 
 It s a bad record he is making for himself of late."
 
 138 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A BRAVE DEFENCE. 
 
 THE force commissioned to conduct the crew of the 
 Sally to New York had been gone but a day or 
 two when an official message was received, instructing 
 the Committee to post sentinels at once on the Point to 
 keep watch for the approach of sails, as there were in 
 dications that some of the British ships were preparing 
 to leave Boston Harbor. 
 
 But, for more than a week, the watchmen on Montau- 
 kett, keeping their faithful outlook through the rough 
 March weather, discovered nothing to cause alarm. Then 
 on the 22d of that eventful month, twenty square-rigged 
 vessels were descried ; but the fleet, instead of making 
 for Montauk, kept steadily on its way, standing, appar 
 ently, for Rhode Island. 
 
 " That s nuthin but a blind," said Olin Dole. " Be 
 fore we know it, they ll wheel about, and be down on us 
 hot an heavy." 
 
 Olin was not alone in this opinion, and a renewed 
 entreaty for men and ammunition accompanied the in 
 formation concerning the movement of the ileet, that was 
 at once despatched to Congress. 
 
 A week later the guard of the Sally s crew, returning
 
 A BRAVE DEFENCE. 139 
 
 safely from the city, brought the stirring news that 
 Washington s troops on Dorchester Heights had forced 
 the enemy to abandon Boston. 
 
 "They say that when the British found that our army 
 was in possession of the Heights," said Aaron Neale, 
 "they began at once to prepare for action ; but the Lord 
 seems to have been on our side, for the same storm that 
 brought the Sally ashore at Montauk delayed the attack, 
 and before the skies cleared our works had become so 
 strongly fortified that no choice was left the British but 
 to evacuate. The exodus was made in haste, and to-day 
 our troops are in possession of the town." 
 
 "Thank God it was a victory won without blood 
 shed ! " ejaculated the old Quaker. 
 
 "Ay, ay, father," responded Aaron, "though won by 
 force of arms, it was by arms that had guided the plough 
 and swung the axe ; and to be beaten in such fashion 
 must have been doubly galling to the boastful redcoats." 
 
 "Those who felt the most badly beaten, I imagine," 
 said Brewster, "were the Americans who had looked 
 to the British for protection, and who, in the precipitate 
 flight, were obliged literally to paddle their own 
 canoes. And some who were equally unhappy, no 
 doubt, were those that had been standing, 
 
 One foot within their country s pale, 
 And t other in the redcoats camp, 
 
 he added, with a smile, having parodied a familiar coup 
 let on the " Half-way Covenanters." * 
 
 l See note on the following page.
 
 140 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Served em right," said Silas Post, who had come in 
 midway in the rehearsal ; " when a man s such a simple 
 ton as to try to carry two watermelons under one arm, 
 he ll lose both of em, sure as preachin ; and that s what 
 a good many of the natives are tryin to do jes now." 
 
 "Ay, and they deserve to lose them, Silas," answered 
 John Thurston. " I have scant pity for any American 
 who at this stage of affairs tries to curry favor with the 
 enemy. He well merits whatever misfortune comes to 
 him." 
 
 " Have a care, John Thurston," warned Prudence 
 Golby. " Because the rebels have succeeded in driving 
 His Majesty s troops out of Boston, it doesn t follow that 
 they have driven them out of the country ; and there s 
 no telling how soon they may turn the tables on their 
 adversaries." 
 
 "That is very true, Prudence," replied Thurston, in 
 his blandest tones; "and our chief anxiety now is to 
 know where the retreating squadrons purpose landing. 
 In all probability the vessels sighted by our Montauk 
 sentinels belong to them ; and no doubt we shall wake- 
 up some line morning to find them riding at anchor in 
 our own roadstead. 
 
 "And with none of the promised troops at hand for 
 our protection, I m afraid," said Aaron Neale. 
 
 But this fear, which had been the only drawback to 
 
 " One foot within the church s pale, 
 And t other out-of-doors." 
 
 The " Half-way Covenanters " were those who. though not members of the church, 
 insisted on having their children baptized, and had caused much dissension in the 
 Easthampton church.
 
 A BRAVE DEFENCE. 141 
 
 their joy in Boston s deliverance, was greatly lessened 
 by the intelligence, a day or two later, that Congress 
 had instructed Brigadier-General Woodhull to hold the 
 militia of his brigade in readiness to go at a moment s 
 notice to the defence of the stock on Montauk ; and the 
 sentinels continued their watch with better heart. 
 
 "We re much obleeged to em, anyhow, for keepin 
 away till March got through rampagin ," said Silas ; for 
 March had merged into April, and it was easier watch 
 ing under the softened skies; "but if they don t come 
 putty quick, some of us 11 have to be turnin our swords 
 into ploughshares, or we sha n t git the spring plantin 
 done, an it begins to look now as if they d concluded to 
 give us the go-by." 
 
 But suddenly, one morning, through a fast gathering 
 fog, the sentinels discovered sails on the sea to the south, 
 and sails in the bay to the north. 
 
 It was " Lord s Day." The church-bell was through 
 tolling, the people were in their pews, and Priest Buell, 
 in his flowing wig and clerical gown, with his hour-glass 
 beside the Bible, had begun to read the opening hymn. 
 The hymn was one that was written by the old Mohegan 
 preacher, Sampson Occum, who had at onetime labored 
 as a missionary among the Shinnecock and Montauk 
 tribes ; and Priest Buell held it in high esteem. He 
 read slowly and with fine emphasis: 
 
 "Awaked by Sinai s awful sound;" 
 
 and the people, with their open hymn-books in their 
 hands, followed him with reverent attention. He had
 
 142 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 barely reached the end of the second stanza, when, 
 with the suddenness of an earthquake, a burst of can- 
 nonry shook the meeting-house, and brought the wor 
 shippers to their feet. 
 
 For an instant the preacher paused, with his keen 
 eyes kindling. Then, "It is doubtless only another 
 false alarm," he said, trying to speak calmly ; and 
 motioning them to be seated, he began with a resolute 
 voice the third stanza, 
 
 "Again did Sinai s thunders roll." 
 
 But at the same moment another roar came up from 
 the Meadows, and some one on the street was heard 
 shouting wildly, 
 
 " The British are landing ! They re landing at Mon- 
 tauk ! " 
 
 The cry went from mouth to mouth ; and, dropping 
 their hymn-books, the people dashed out of the meeting 
 house with blanched faces. 
 
 It was useless, at that late hour, to think of sending 
 for Woodhull s militia ; but there was no thought of sur 
 render. The village flew to arms. Even Priest Buell, 
 throwing aside his gown and bands, hastened to gird 
 himself for carnal warfare. 
 
 " Give me forty men," cried Captain John Dayton, 
 " and we ll march straight to the Meadows, and do 
 what we can to save the stock." 
 
 Forty men responded to the call, with no dallying ; 
 and, armed with whatever weapons came first to hand, 
 the brave company of volunteers set off with all speed
 
 THE PEOPLE DASHED OUT OF THE MEETING-HOUSE . . EVEN PRIEST 
 
 BUELL HASTENED TO GIRU HIMSELF FOR CARNAL WARFARE.
 
 A BRAVE DEFENCE. 143 
 
 through the dense fog for Montauk. They were scarcely 
 out of the village when another roar came up from the 
 Point, but it served only to quicken the march. 
 
 "Wheel" whistled Ben, who, with Margaret, was 
 standing at the gate; "hear that, Meg? They ve come 
 this time, sure pop. Say, Meg, run in and get my gun, 
 won t you? And slip out, if you can, without letting 
 mother see you. I don t want to worry her; but, if 
 there s any fighting going on, they ll need every gun 
 that can be mustered, and a man behind it." 
 
 "Of course you ought to go, Ben. I d go myself if 
 I could," said the girl, in hearty sympathy with him. 
 "But I m afraid Aunt Prudence wouldn t approve of it." 
 
 At the house she had the good fortune to meet no one 
 but her grandfather. 
 
 O 
 
 " It s for Ben, grandpa," she explained, as she took 
 the gun from its hooks. "Ben thinks he may be needed ; 
 and if, presently, you ll tell Aunt Prudence, it will be all 
 right." 
 
 "Thou art wise, little one," said the old Quaker, his 
 blue eyes twinkling. "Presently I will do thy bidding." 
 
 On going back she found Ben in the barnyard, exult 
 antly bestriding Lord Lion. 
 
 "Mayn t I ride him, Meg?" he entreated. "I can 
 manage him easy enough, and I shall get there so much 
 quicker." 
 
 Before Meg could answer, Lord Lion was on his 
 haunches, and Ben found himself in a heap at his 
 heels. 
 
 " Lord Lion objects," she said, with a laugh, as Ben
 
 144 ^ N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 picked himself up unhurt. "Here s your gun, and 
 grandpa is to tell Aunt Prudence presently." 
 
 There was no time for arguing ; and seizing his rusty 
 fowling-piece, Ben started off on a run. 
 
 " O Lion, Lion, if I were only a man just for to 
 day ! " sighed the girl, with her arm over Lion s neck. 
 
 " What, dost thou, too, mean to go, Margaret?" asked 
 her grandfather, coming to the barnyard bars. 
 
 Margaret flashed a quick look at him. 
 
 " It is what I want to do, grandpa, if you don t mind. 
 And I ll promise not to venture very near, unless some 
 one should be wounded ; in that case I might be 
 needed." 
 
 "Then I must go with thee," he said, hurrying into 
 the stable ; and by the time she had Lord Lion re- 
 saddled, old Vic was led out, ready to be mounted. 
 
 " I verily believe he was meaning to go, dear old 
 gran dad," said the girl to herself, noticing for the first 
 time that he had on his long drab overcoat and woollen 
 muffler ; and that huge bundle projecting from his pocket 
 was surely nothing less than a roll of soft linen ! 
 
 "A fine chase this thou rt leading me in my old age," 
 he growled gently, as he lengthened the stirrup ; but 
 the alacrity with which, in spite of his years, he sprung 
 to the saddle, satisfied her that he was very willing 
 
 <T> 
 
 to go. 
 
 "Prudence was not at home when I left the house," 
 he remarked, as they rode through the gateway, " so I 
 was not able to tell her of Ben s going." 
 
 "Perhaps she, too, has started for the Meadows
 
 A BRAVE DEFENCE. 145 
 
 who knows?" said Margaret, demurely. But while she 
 was congratulating herself on their getting off unhin 
 dered, a shrill voice was heard behind them. 
 
 " Well, of all things ! And on the Lord s Day, too ! " 
 
 " We are on the Lord s errand, Prudence," called the 
 old man, without turning. 
 
 He was used to the saddle. Until very lately he had 
 been accustomed to go every year on old Vic to Jamaica 
 and Flushing, to be present at the Friends meetings ; 
 arfd the horse knew his master. 
 
 Lord Lion was at first disposed to do a little curvet 
 ing and prancing, but under Margaret s quieting hand 
 he was soon pacing beside Vic with the dignity of a 
 veteran. 
 
 " He is a fine animal," said her grandfather, with the 
 appreciation of a genuine horseman; " but he is young 
 yet for the saddle." 
 
 " Oh, Lodowick says it will do him no harm, if it is 
 not kept on too long at a time." 
 
 A thundering of cannon, louder than any that had pre 
 ceded it, made both horses prick up their ears, but that 
 was all. Lord Lion took it as coolly as old Vic. 
 
 "See what a sensible horse he is, grandpa. He 
 doesn t flinch an atom," said Margaret, passing her hand 
 over the glossy mane. 
 
 "Ay, he has good blood in him, and he comes of a 
 breed used to the sounds of war." 
 
 "Oh, faster, grandpa, faster!" urged the girl, as 
 again the earth was shaken with the boom of guns. 
 
 " Come, then," said her grandfather, giving Vic the
 
 146 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 rein ; and neck and neck the two went galloping through 
 the fog. 
 
 At intervals they passed people hurrying along on 
 foot, some alone, others in companies ; not many voices 
 were heard, there was no breath to waste in talk ; but 
 they were half-way to the Point before they overtook 
 Ben. 
 
 " Thou rt making good time, Benjamin," shouted his 
 grandfather, but there was no slackening of speed. 
 
 " Poor Ben ! If only Lion were strong enough to 
 carry two ! " sighed Margaret. Whether her grand 
 father heard the sigh or not she never knew, but suddenly 
 he wheeled about. 
 
 " Here, Benjamin, come take my place," he called. 
 " I have ridden far enough, and shall be glad to try my 
 feet again." 
 
 Ben came up eagerly, in the act of taking his gun 
 from his shoulder ; but the next minute he was ashamed 
 of himself. 
 
 "Oh! go on, go on, grandfather," he cried; "I m 
 better able to walk than you are." 
 
 " Nay, honestly, Benjamin, the saddle wearies me," 
 said the old man, getting down stiffly, and stooping to 
 rub his knees. "Leave me to forge along at my own 
 gait ; and when thou hast found out how the battle is 
 going, thou canst ride back and report. Here, take 
 this with thee, Margaret, and remember to keep at a 
 safe distance from the enemy." And he thrust into 
 Margaret s hand the roll of old linen. 
 
 " Isn t he a darling?" cried the girl, as Ben adjusted
 
 A BRAVE DEFENCE. 1 47 
 
 his gun, and thrust his feet into the stirrups. " Now I 
 know why he was so ready to come ; twas for nothing 
 in the world but to bring you Vic." 
 
 " Much obleeged to him," said Ben. " See, he was 
 a boy himself once, and knows how a boy feels when 
 he hears guns and cannon. Now then, Vic ! " 
 
 The fog was lifting, and soon they began to notice 
 that the firing was becoming less frequent. 
 
 " Be all over with fore we get there," muttered Ben, 
 digging his spurless heels into old Vic s sides. And 
 Meg, seeing that Vic was beginning to lose his wind, 
 drew in the reins, and did her best to keep Lord Lion 
 from going ahead of him. 
 
 " Here s some one coming this way," she cried pres 
 ently. "Why, it s little Patsy Lumley, driving her red 
 heifer. What s the trouble, Patsy?" 
 
 "O Miss Marg et," wailed Patsy, lifting a woful but 
 determined little face, all wet with tears, "the red 
 coats av come ; they ve come to steal the cattle, an i 
 ain t a goin to let em have my pretty little cow. Pappy 
 give her to me when she were a calf, an they sha n t 
 have her." 
 
 " Indeed they sha n t, Patsy, not if we can get her to 
 the village," said Margaret. " I know how I should 
 feel if Snowball were in danger." She turned to ask 
 Ben how they could manage it, but that impatient youth 
 had galloped on. 
 
 " I ll tell you what to do, Patsy. Just jog along 
 slowly ; and when we come back, if we overtake you, 
 we ll give you a lift."
 
 148 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "Thank y , ma am," said Patsy, courtesying as she 
 wiped her eyes. " Posy won t let me git on wery fas , 
 kuz she wants to stop to nibble every patch o grass we 
 come to." 
 
 " Oh ! let her nibble as much as she likes. She is all 
 right now." And then she chirruped to Lion, and was 
 off again. 
 
 It was a gallant show they made on the windy sum 
 mit of Montauk, the little company so hastily mustered 
 that seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord 1776 ; 
 and a brave front they presented to the blatant enemy 
 below. Ben, to his joy, found himself in time to join 
 the cavalcade, and he made the most of his opportunity ; 
 but Margaret, mindful of her promise to her grandfather, 
 held aloof, screening herself and Lord Lion behind a 
 clump of scrub oaks. Here, secure from observation, 
 she could command a view of nearly all that was going 
 on. Some of the men were so disguised that it was not 
 easy to recognize them ; but yonder was her father, rid 
 ing abreast with her Uncle John, and behind them came 
 Priest Buell, armed with sword and gun. A little in 
 advance of the others rode Captain Dayton ; and with 
 a quickened pulse she discovered that the tall figure 
 beside him, on the black-maned horse, was Lodowick 
 Brewster. 
 
 Then, for a few moments, they were hidden from her, 
 having passed behind a hill ; and she shuddered to think 
 that perhaps the enemy s guns were being turned upon 
 them. But shortly the whole company reappeared. 
 And now something occurred that she could not at first
 
 A BRAVE DEFENCE. 149 
 
 comprehend, for, with the hill between themselves and 
 the foe, they came suddenly to a halt, and began pulling 
 off their coats and turning them inside out ; and lo, in an 
 instant, they were so completely metamorphosed that no 
 one would have taken them for the same men. By one 
 or two repetitions of this simple stratagem, together with 
 a series of marches and countermarches, they gave the 
 enemy so exaggerated an idea of their numbers that, 
 after one or two futile attempts to land, they abandoned 
 the undertaking, and hastened to weigh anchor. 1 
 
 "Thank God for another bloodless victory," said 
 Priest Buell, pressing down his hat; for the irreverent 
 wind was making a sorry tangle of his flowing wig. 
 "It was a timeous scare we gave them. Truly, the 
 wicked flee when no man pursueth. 
 
 "Ay," said Captain Dayton; " we may consider our 
 selves fortunate that they were so easily frightened off. 
 What Fin most in fear of now is, that, failing of their 
 object here, they may seek to land at some unprotected 
 point on Shelter Island." 
 
 "Not this time," said Brewster. "Look, they are 
 putting to sea." 
 
 "That s a fact," said John Thurston, as the vessels 
 bore away. " Still, it will be \vell to keep an eye on 
 them, lest they come sailing back, and take us un 
 awares." 
 
 And it was not till the last sail vanished in the distance 
 that the brave band set their faces homeward. 
 
 Margaret meanwhile had managed to lead Lord Lion 
 
 1 This account is true in every particular. See " Chronicles of Easthampton."
 
 150 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 down the hill without attracting attention, and by the 
 time the others started she was well on the road. 
 
 In the soft, moist air, with the salt fragrance of the 
 sea, the scent of springing grass and budding thickets, 
 was mingled the milky breath of cows ; for the herders, 
 at the first gleam of hostile sails, had driven the cattle 
 and sheep westward, and the uneasy tinkling of the bells 
 told that the wearers were not yet wonted to their pas 
 tures new." 
 
 " O Lion, they are safe, thank God ! " said Margaret, 
 fervently, as she passed the " lowing herds." And then 
 she laughed to think how easily the enemy had been 
 overawed. 
 
 She had covered but a mile or two more when she 
 came upon Patsy, huddled in a forlorn little heap by 
 the roadside, with her knuckles in her eyes. 
 
 " Posy s gone an got lost, ma am," sobbed the child, 
 in answer to Margaret s questions. " She was that con 
 trary, that she wouldn t stir a step the way I wanted her 
 to go, after she heerd them bells ; an now she s gone 
 an got so mixed up with the rest of em that I can t find 
 her nowheres." 
 
 " Oh, it s all right, Patsy ! The redcoats have sailed 
 away without daring to come ashore ; so run home and 
 go to bed, and in the morning you ll find your little red 
 heifer mooing for you at the bars." 
 
 "O Miss Marg et!" cried Patsy. "Eh, but that s 
 good news ! " and springing to her feet, she sped away 
 like a little sand-piper. 
 
 The grayness of night was beginning to gather, but
 
 A BRAVE DEFENCE. 151 
 
 happily there was a moon ; and Margaret rode on fear 
 lessly until, behind her, she heard, coming rapidly nearer, 
 the sound of hoofs. Old Vic was not equal to any such 
 breakneck rate, even with Ben in the saddle ; and her 
 first thought was to put Lion to his speed. But hark ! 
 Some one was calling her name. And before she could 
 turn, Rex was cheek by jowl with Lion. 
 
 " When Ben told me that you came with him to the 
 Point," said Brewster, bending from the saddle to touch 
 hfs lips to her hand, " I spurred on without waiting 
 for the rest. But why did you come, sweetheart? I 
 shudder to think of your danger had there been any 
 fighting." 
 
 " It ill behooves a soldier s daughter to be afraid," 
 answered the girl. " Besides, Lodowick, there was a 
 possibility that I might be needed." 
 
 Lodowick bridged the space between them with his 
 arm. 
 
 "Brave little sweetheart!" he said, clasping her 
 hand again. "Thank God, there were no wounds to 
 be dressed to-day. But my heart misgives me for the 
 future. The battle is yet to be fought that shall bring 
 us peace." 
 
 " And, alas ! who knows how many lives that battle 
 may cost? O Lodowick, Lodowick ! " 
 
 " But in what better cause could a man lay down his 
 life? Happy are they who fall in such a battle. But 
 in God s good providence I may be among those who 
 are spared to come forth alive. You are not to be anx 
 ious about me, sweetheart. Remember the words of
 
 152 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 George Whitefield, We are immortal till our work is 
 done. " 
 
 Margaret caught her breath without answering ; but 
 she lifted the hand that held hers, and laid her cheek 
 against it. 
 
 The night grew stiller. Except the fall of the horses 
 feet on the sandy soil, the only noticeable sounds were 
 the soft pipings of birds from tree and bush, and the 
 pleading cry that the sea sent up to the unresponsive 
 moon. It seemed a night made purposely for lovers, 
 and these two were young, with all their life before 
 them ; and though even over their new-found joy the 
 war-cloud cast its shadow, they dreamed dreams and 
 builded castles, the same as other lovers, and took no 
 note of time. 
 
 Past the windy desert of Napeague and the stretch 
 of sand-hills that intervened, they caught the flicker of 
 lights in the little hamlet of Amagansett ; and now they 
 no longer had the night to themselves, for, though it was 
 after nine, every one was "waiting up," on the watch 
 for any passer-by, and more than once they were obliged 
 to halt, to tell some anxious questioner how the enemy 
 had been routed. Then for three miles more Rex and 
 Lord Lion paced soberly side by side, being by this time 
 somewhat fagged, while their riders held that sweet 
 
 O O 7 
 
 commerce of thought in which speech and silence are 
 alike current gold. But when the windmill at the en 
 trance of the village was seen lifting its giant arms 
 against the sky, the spell was broken ; for, at the sound 
 of hoofs, windows and doors in every house along the
 
 A BRAVE DEFENCE. 153 
 
 road suddenly opened ; and from one and another the 
 riders were hailed with the cry, "What news?" 
 
 " Nothing but good news, friends," called Brewster. 
 " The enemy was put to flight with no blood spilled on 
 either side." 
 
 And again and again, the length of the street, the 
 cheering word was repeated, until every woman and 
 child knew that the Meadows were safe, for the night 
 at least. 
 
 ." I hope no harm has befallen grandpa," said Mar 
 garet, troubled at not having overtaken the old man ; 
 but they found him waiting at the gate. 
 
 " Poor gran dad ! how tired you must be ; " and Meg 
 put both arms around his neck as he lifted her down. 
 
 " Nay, I have not walked all the way. Thy cousins, 
 Betty and her brother, drove out as far as Napeague, to 
 see if anything could be learned as to the cause of the 
 firing, and they kindly took me in. And how has the 
 day passed with thee, little one? I am afraid thou art 
 well-nigh starved. And thou, too, Lodowick. Prudence 
 has her table spread for friend or foe ; why not come in 
 and sup with us? " 
 
 "Not to-night, thank you, friend Thurston," said 
 Lodowick, reluctantly, " not to-night. I must make 
 haste to report to Frances and Deborah. They will be 
 anxious about me. Ah, here come the others!" And, 
 as he galloped away, Ben rode up, followed by John 
 Thurston and Aaron Neale.
 
 154 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE DECLARATION. 
 
 A lpHOUGH their victory at Montauk had inspired the 
 JL people with fresh confidence, they were not sorry 
 to know that Congress still wished the Suffolk County 
 companies to hold themselves subject to General Wood- 
 hull s orders for the protection of the stock. 
 
 " Some of em won t relish it very well," said Silas 
 Post, " they re in such a fever to git into camp." 
 
 "Yes, I heard them expressing their minds about it 
 last night," answered Brewster, who had found it no 
 easy matter to curb his own impatience. "They seem 
 to think that keeping guard over the cattle on the Mead 
 ows is not what they enlisted for ; but a soldier must not 
 do his own choosing. It is irksome, I admit; but, until 
 the safety of the stock is assured, there is nothing for us 
 but to make the best of it, and, as Congress promises to 
 supply us with ammunition, I think we shall be able 
 to hold our own, at least." 
 
 "To hold our own, man ! " cried John Thurston, join 
 ing them with a dismayed face. "Ah, you have not 
 heard the latest rumor. Major TIerrick and Ensign 
 Hildreth have just come riding with all speed from 
 Southampton to let the people know. The British have
 
 THE DECLARATION. 155 
 
 over a hundred men-of-war and transports anchored off 
 Staten Island." 
 
 His listeners started up appalled. 
 
 "Already?" cried Aaron Neale. 
 
 "Ay, and God knows how soon they will be land 
 ing," answered Thurston ; "for, if the report has any 
 foundation, it is evident that they are planning to get 
 possession of New York, and if they succeed " He 
 broke off abruptly, and began pacing the floor. 
 
 * "If they succeed," Aaron Neale repeated slowly, 
 "Long Island is doomed." 
 
 His brother-in-law made no reply; but till late in the 
 night he paced the floor with that last word throbbing in 
 his brain : " Doomed ! doomed ! doomed." 
 
 But in the thickest of these forebodings, like the burst 
 ing of the sun through the black folds that threaten a 
 tornado, came the inspiring news that Congress had 
 passed a resolution declaring the United Colonies "free 
 and independent States." 
 
 Nowhere throughout the country was the " Declara 
 tion " received with more enthusiasm than at the East 
 End, and nowhere did this enthusiasm more readily find 
 expression in patriotic demonstrations. Every church- 
 bell in the Hamptons sounded a response to the victori 
 ous peal that had echoed over land and sea from the 
 great bell in the old State House in Philadelphia ; and 
 to the ringing of the bells were added the beat of drums 
 and the shouts of lusty voices. The people went wild 
 in their joy ; and the manifestations of patriotism were 
 not confined to those in the heyday of life. Men who
 
 156 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 had served in the French and Indian War, and whose 
 record of years had reached three score and ten, not 
 only took part in the parade, but agreed to hold them 
 selves in readiness to go into the field whenever needed. 
 Speeches, together with the reading of the Declaration, 
 were the order of the hour ; and even the woodpile 
 became for the time a rostrum. 
 
 "They say that all the colonies are eager to adopt it, 
 but none of them got ahead of New York," said Burnct 
 Miller, exultantly. "The Dutch blood is up, and the 
 people are proving themselves true descendants of the 
 brave old Hollanders and Huguenots. Squire Wick- 
 ham reports that our Congress had a rousing time in the 
 old court house at White Plains. A mounted messenger 
 brought the news of the Declaration from Philadelphia, 
 and they had it proclaimed at once with flying colors ; 
 and after pledging themselves to sustain it with their 
 lives and fortunes, if need be, they sent the horseman 
 back to Philadelphia with a message empowering the 
 Continental Congress to vote for the people of New 
 York." 
 
 " Oh ! New York is buckling on her armor in earnest," 
 said Aaron Neale ; " and a happy thing it is for the rest 
 of the country, for without her co-operation there would 
 be scant hope of success. 
 
 Among the boys there \vas no one that showed more 
 zeal than Ben Thurston ; and, on hearing that the Hunt- 
 ington people had burned His Majesty King George in 
 effigy, he at once proposed to his familiars, Burt Os- 
 good and Vet Dimon, that they should have a similar
 
 THE DECLARATION. 157 
 
 demonstration ; but Mistress Prudence, getting a hint of 
 it, nipped the disloyal project in the bud. 
 
 "Won t let a fellow so much as fire a popgun to 
 show his patriotism," growled the young fellow, confi 
 dentially, to Margaret. "And there s Phil Halsey, over 
 at Southampton, only a year or so older than I am, he 
 enlisted months ago ; and they say that he heard the 
 Declaration read to the army. Wish I d been along 
 with him." 
 
 *" Where, oh, where is the young man that didn t ap 
 prove of throwing the tea overboard?" mocked Meg. 
 
 " Pshaw ! I was nothing but a boy then." And Ben 
 rubbed his hand caressingly over the silky down that 
 was beginning to clothe his chin. " Besides, Meg, 
 when I heard about the battle of Bunker Hill, I found 
 out that I was an American." 
 
 But when the first heat of exultation had spent itself, 
 and the people took time to consider the full import of 
 the " Declaration," some of the more timid ones began 
 to quake. 
 
 "It s all very fine," said Olin Dole, who, with Silas 
 Post, and two or three others, was standing in front of 
 Dan Conklin s store; "but Congress might better a 
 waited till we d got a little nigher the fence fore shakin 
 such a red rag in the bull s face." 
 
 " Twas the colonies shook the red rag in the bull s 
 face, Olin, when they perlitely said, No tea, if you 
 please, " retorted Silas; "but Congress has seized the 
 bull by the horns, and we d ought to be mighty proud 
 that they had the pluck to do it."
 
 158 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "That s very true, Silas," said Colonel Gardiner, 
 pulling down his buff vest. "Still, it was a little pre 
 mature, and I m afraid that there s going to be a pretty 
 tough tussle before it s over with." 
 
 "Yes, it was a courageous step to take," said old 
 "Assemblyman" Miller, "and we may well be proud 
 of it; but, having asserted our independence, it remains 
 for us to establish it, and it looks now as if it might in 
 volve our having to wade through blood." 
 
 "That wouldn t be nuthin strange," Silas answered 
 stoutly. "We re a good eal in the same fix the Is al- 
 ites was when they s tryin to git out o Egyp ; we ve 
 come to our Red Sea, an if we ain t got the courage to 
 venture in, there s nuthin for us to do but to go back 
 into slavery." 
 
 "Ay, ay, Silas," responded Priest Buell, who had 
 joined the group a moment before; " and, with George 
 Washington for our Moses, we can go forward with 
 confidence, feeling that he is appointed of God to lead 
 us into the promised land." 
 
 " But the promised land is not going to be reached in 
 a day," said Miller ; " and, meanwhile, the fleet in New 
 York Bay may at any moment swoop down on the East 
 End without let or hindrance." 
 
 "Yes, there s no use shutting our eyes to that fact," 
 said Dan Conklin. " The Jerseys may divert em for a 
 little ; but as soon as the supplies begin to get low there 
 they ll turn their attention to Long Island, there s no 
 question about that." 
 
 "I guess Woodhull 11 look out for us," said Silas.
 
 THE DECLARATION. I $9 
 
 " Besides, now that Gen al Washin ton s in New York, 
 he ll have an eye to our safety." 
 
 "Gen al Washin ton s goin to have all he can do to 
 keep New York out o their clutches," insisted Olin. 
 " They say he can t muster mor n ten thousan men all 
 told, an a thousan or so o thcnis either sick or off on 
 furlongs. He s got all he kin tend to thout botherin 
 bout the East En ." 
 
 " Oh ! the East En s goin to git along all right, pro- 
 vtdin no more of our men are ordered off somewhere 
 else," said Silas confidently. 
 
 But that very day word was received that Colonel 
 Josiah Smith and Colonel Henry Livingston, lodging 
 the previous night with Captain Foster at the Harbor, 
 had met an express from the Convention, directing them 
 to send all the new levies to the West End. Ezekiel 
 Mulford s company was included in this order, being 
 part of Colonel Smith s regiment ; and when the day 
 came for them to march, Priest Buell, in the presence of 
 friends and neighbors, entreated a blessing for them, 
 and with the affectionate earnestness of a father exhorted 
 them to be faithful to the cause. They made a goodly 
 show as they trooped away to the sound of life and 
 drum, but the whole country-side was saddened by their 
 going ; for, of all the companies that had been raised 
 in the immediate vicinity, none but Captain Hurlburt s 
 was left to guard the Meadows, and it was only at the 
 urgent petition of the people that Congress had granted 
 permission for this handful to remain. 
 
 "It would be a meagre defence in case of a sudden
 
 l6o AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 invasion," said Aaron Neale. " I hear that Zephaniah 
 Rogers and Ed Topping, at Southampton, are trying to 
 raise a force for the protection of the stock; but it will 
 have to be made up of old men chiefly, there are so few 
 of the younger ones left." 
 
 He was talking with two or three of the neighbors 
 who had gathered at the woodpile, and presently they 
 were joined by Squire Wickham. The Squire, who 
 was a member of the Provincial Congress, had just re 
 turned from the city ; and they saw at a glance that he 
 had something of importance to communicate. 
 
 " Congress," he said deprecatingly, fully aware of the 
 blow he was about to deal, " has determined to put it 
 out of the enemy s power to obtain supplies from Long 
 Island, and to accomplish this only one course seems 
 feasible. Several plans were proposed. One was for 
 the armed occupation of the Island, but the lack of 
 troops and ammunition makes that impossible ; and it 
 has finally been decided that, while each family is to be 
 allowed to retain a specified number of co\vs, according 
 to the size of the family, the common stock shall be 
 gathered in safe places, from whence it can be driven at 
 a moment s notice, in case of an alarm. It is also de 
 cided that one-fourth of the minute men and militia shall 
 be drafted to guard it, and that the officer in command 
 be empowered to have it destroyed, if necessary, to pre 
 vent its falling into the hands of the British. It is a 
 hard alternative, but necessity knows no law." 
 
 And scarcely had this decision of Congress become 
 generally known, when a messenger came riding post-
 
 THE DECLARATION. l6l 
 
 haste down the Island, with the appalling tidings that 
 twenty thousand of the British troops had embarked 
 from Staten Island, and were landing at New Utrecht, 
 with the intention, evidently, of getting possession of 
 Brooklyn, and the possession of Brooklyn meant pos 
 session of the entire Island.
 
 1 62 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 WHAT NEWS? 
 
 IN the hope of obtaining more definite information 
 concerning the landing of the enemy, messengers 
 were despatched at once to Jamaica, and Lodowick 
 Brewster was of the number. 
 
 It was on Thursday evening that they started, and the 
 dense fog that since early morning had enveloped sea 
 and land did not tend to lessen the gloom that was 
 enshrouding all hearts. 
 
 " Oh, this waiting in the dark ! " cried John Thurston. 
 " It would be easier to face the enemy s guns ; and it will 
 be four days at least before w r e can look for them back." 
 
 But Lodowick had said to Margaret that he meant to 
 be home on Saturday night if he had to change horses 
 at every inn on the road ; and though she half doubted 
 his being able to accomplish it, when Saturday afternoon 
 came she took her wheel out under the shade of the 
 buttonball on the west side of the house, where, through 
 an opening in the paling, she could command a view of 
 the highway. The paling, which was made of rifted 
 timber, was a relic of the days when fences needed to 
 be high and strong, as a protection from wolves and 
 Indians ; and she found it an excellent screen.
 
 WHAT NEU/S? 163 
 
 "As if there were no place indoors where you could 
 spin ! " called her Aunt Prudence from an upper win 
 dow. 
 
 " Oh ! but I like it out here," said Margaret, as she 
 fastened a roll of wool to the spindle. 
 
 It would be well always to spin out-of-doors on a 
 day like this," said her grandfather, who had followed 
 her with his book and chair. "We let too much of 
 God s sunshine go to waste, housing ourselves so closely." 
 *And Prudence, finding that the girl had her grand 
 father for an ally, drew in her head, and shut the window 
 with an emphatic bang. 
 
 The old man, with his chair tilted against a tree, 
 opened his book and began to read ; while Margaret, 
 moving noiselessly back and forth across the flickering 
 shadows on the grass, as she drew out the long gray 
 strands, kept a watchful eye on the street. It was a 
 pleasant picture she made, and her grandfather s glance 
 strayed often from his book to the spinner. An old straw 
 hat of Ben s that she had picked up on the porch was 
 crowded over her curls, and a short-waisted gown of 
 homespun linen fell in long straight lines around the 
 slim young figure. The sunlight glinted in broken 
 shafts between the shifting leaves, and now and then a 
 bird sent down a snatch of song ; in the cornfield back 
 of the "pasture-lot" the crows were cawing, and from 
 behind the sand-dunes came a cool salt wind. It was 
 indeed a good day to be out-of-doors. 
 
 By and by in the distance rose a little cloud of dust ; 
 and the old man, who, lulled by the monotonous burr of
 
 164 AH ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 the wheel, had begun to drowse, was roused by the 
 sudden stopping of the lullaby. 
 
 "What dost thou see?" he asked; for Madge was 
 standing motionless, one hand holding loosely a skein 
 of yarn, while with the other she shaded her eyes from 
 the level rays of the sun. And, before she could answer 
 him, out of the whirl of dust came a horseman, riding in 
 furious haste. The girl started forward with an eager 
 cry, letting the yarn slip to the ground ; and the old man 
 dropped his book, and stood up. 
 
 "It is some one with tidings," he said. But the girl 
 drew back disappointed. 
 
 " It is only Ike Bennet ! he always rides as if he had 
 news to tell." And, with the feeling that Ike ought to 
 know better than to come dashing through the streets like 
 that, unless he had some special message to deliver, she 
 turned to set her wheel in motion again. But when, in 
 answer to her grandfather s salute, the horseman shouted 
 that the British were surrounding Brooklyn, she stopped, 
 and, with her hand on the spindle, asked, 
 
 "If Brooklyn should be taken, what then, grandpa?" 
 
 "Even if Brooklyn should be taken, child, the Lord 
 still reigns." 
 
 "Yes, the Lord still reigns, but so does King 
 George," said the girl rebelliously ; "and it begins to 
 look now as if the Lord were altogether on his side." 
 
 "Thou art judging hastily, little one. Was He on 
 King George s side when He delivered Boston out of the 
 hands of the enemy? And is His arm shortened that it 
 cannot save? "
 
 " IT WAS A PI.EASAXT PICTURE THAT MARGARET MADE. AND HER 
 GRANDFATHER S GLANCE STRAYED FROM HIS BOOK TO THE 
 SPINNER."
 
 WHAT NEWS? 165 
 
 Margaret took the reproof meekly, and went back to 
 her wheel with a quieter heart. But the old man pointed 
 to the west. 
 
 "The Lord s Day has begun," he said, as the sun s 
 red rim slipped out of sight. And then Hagar came to 
 the door to call them to supper. 
 
 " Coming, Hagar," answered Margaret, scanning the 
 road in vain for another whirl of dust. 
 
 " Fo massy sake, chile, wat fo yo scandenizin de 
 neighborhood, doin yo spinnin out dar arter sunset 
 Satydy ebenin ?" And, with a fine semblance of right 
 eous wrath, Ilagar, darting out, caught up the wheel, 
 intent on getting it into the house before Mistress Pru 
 dence came down. 
 
 " Yo aunt, she ben up in dat loom-room de hul bles- 
 som arternoon, tendin to dem yarbs, an she ll keep at 
 em long s dere s a bref o daylight lef, fo der ain t 
 nuffin lazy bout Mis Prudens, an dat s good, pious 
 sort o work, kase dem s fo de healin o de sick ; but 
 w en folks goes to nickin de aidge o de Lawd s Day 
 wid de spinnin -w eel La ! dat chile ain t hearin a 
 word Fs sayin ! " For Margaret, who had run back to 
 bring in her grandfather s chair, was again absorbed in 
 watching for one to " come out of the west ; " and every 
 thing else was forgotten until her aunt s shrill voice 
 reminded her that supper was waiting. 
 
 Prudence stood in the doorway, brushing from her 
 apron the bits of mint and dill and saffron that had clung 
 to it. 
 
 "Oh, how good!" cried Margaret, sniffing the fra-
 
 1 66 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 grance. " It makes me think of that verse in the Bible, 
 Aunt Prudence : All thy garments smell of myrrh, 
 and aloes, and cassia. 
 
 To this Scriptural reference her aunt deigned no 
 response. 
 
 "John Thurston and your father have gone down to 
 the Meadows," she said, giving her apron a vigorous 
 shake; "and there s no telling when they ll be back, if 
 it is Saturday night. Like as not they ll think they must 
 stay on guard, the men are in such a scare ; and they ve 
 taken Benjamin with them. They ll make a rank rebel 
 of him if they keep on. 
 
 " He is wild to be in the ranks," said Margaret, 
 demurely. 
 
 "He will never be there with my consent, at least not 
 in those that fight against King George, Prudence de 
 clared, with heightened color. 
 
 " Long live King George !" screeched the parrot. 
 
 "Yes, Poll, yes, long live His Gracious Majesty!" 
 crooned Prudence, nodding to her pet. 
 
 The old man turned to Margaret. " Dost thou know 
 on what text Friend Buell means to discourse on the 
 morrow? Xay? Then we will walk that way after 
 supper, and inquire. It is well to have the subject in 
 mind beforehand." 
 
 Meg s face grew radiant. It was her habit to spend 
 an hour or two on Saturday evening in reading to him, 
 and, as a rule, she enjoyed doing it : but to-night, with 
 every nerve at its utmost tension, the prospect of being 
 pent indoors had seemed scarcely endurable. Besides,
 
 WHAT NEU/S? 167 
 
 she was hungering to see her friend, Mrs. Gardiner. She 
 had not yet mustered courage to tell any one of her be 
 trothal, but to-night the longing to confide it to some one 
 who would sympathize with her was too strong to be 
 resisted. 
 
 Prudence hinted broadly that Saturday night was an 
 ill-chosen time for calls, and might better be spent at 
 home ; but her father-in-law blandly assured her that they 
 could always count on a welcome from Priest Buell, no 
 matter when they called. 
 
 But when they came out into the cool, still starlight, 
 Margaret suddenly remembered that every step taken in 
 the direction of the parsonage was lengthening the dis 
 tance between herself and Lodowick. 
 
 " Why not go a little way in the other direction first? " 
 she asked. "We might, perhaps, meet some one with 
 tidings." 
 
 " Nay," he said ; " it will be wiser to wait till we have 
 done our errand." And Margaret reluctantly faced about. 
 
 But at the parsonage they found every one so full of 
 the threatening state of affairs in Brooklyn that the 
 errand slipped into the background. Even little John 
 Lion, and his small uncle, Sammy Buell, who, at Mrs. 
 Buell s knee, had been laboriouslv repeating their cate 
 chism, ran to tell Margaret that the " Bwitishers " were 
 coming. 
 
 "And they are bad men," John Lion added, with a 
 scowl on the baby forehead ; " for Jason Skrill says they 
 will take away all the sheep and cows, just as they did 
 from my mamma s island."
 
 1 68 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Hush, my son," chided his mother. " Grandpa is 
 speaking." 
 
 "Ah, would God the flocks of our pasture were men ! " 
 Priest Buell was saying. " Then, perhaps, the East 
 End might be saved. As it is " He pressed his lips 
 together, and shook his head. " Nay, as it is," he cried, 
 his face growing luminous, "we will still trust in the 
 Lord. He has never yet failed us." 
 
 " Dear old daddy ! " whispered Mrs. Gardiner to Mar 
 garet ; "it is almost more than he can bear, the thought 
 of having his people at the mercy of the enemy." 
 
 "Ah, if England had listened to the teachings of 
 George "Fox," lamented the old Quaker, " this unnatural 
 warfare would never have been begun. It was the gospel 
 of peace that he preached, but he gave his message to 
 those who were not worthy to receive it." 
 
 "But there is a gospel of war as well as of peace, 
 Friend Thurston," said the minister; " and I would fain 
 cry out to the men of our land everywhere to gird on 
 their armor, for, since the battle has begun, it behooves 
 us to fight it out like men. I 
 
 It seemed impossible to speak on any other subject, 
 and it was not until it was time for the little lads to be put 
 to bed that Margaret found a chance to tell her secret. 
 
 "O my dear, my dear, I am so glad!" cried her 
 friend, putting her arms about the girl; "so glad for 
 you and for him. You could not have chosen more 
 wisely. One does not need to be a seer to predict that 
 you will be happy. But the wedding, dear, that will 
 not be yet, I suppose."
 
 WHAT NEWS? 169 
 
 "No," said the girl, nestling closer in the motherly 
 embrace, " not until the war is over; and that will be 
 quite time enough, for I am too young, grandpa says, to 
 marry I am not yet eighteen, you know. But when 
 I think of the war my heart fails me ; for, the moment 
 Lodowick is no longer needed here, he expects to join 
 the army." 
 
 " Oh ! but, my dear, wherever he may be, he will be 
 in the same kind keeping ; and when you consider the 
 chances of life and death, you will see that being a sol 
 dier involves but little more risk of life and limb than 
 belonging to a whaling squadron." 
 
 "Ah, but one is for a day, and the other goes on in 
 definitely," sighed the girl ; and then her grandfather 
 called her. 
 
 "But love is for all eternity," said Jerusha, giving 
 her a good-night kiss. And with a comforted heart she 
 went down-stairs, repeating softly to herself, "Love is 
 for all eternity." 
 
 " Let us hope that help will come timeously," Priest 
 Buell was remarking, with something of his usual cheer 
 fulness. "Ah, here s Margaret ! What has Jerusha been 
 saying to make your eyes so bright, child?" 
 
 "She has been mothering me," answered the girl, 
 with a plaintive little smile. 
 
 "Ah, I understand. There are times when we all 
 want mothering, and Jerusha has a knack that way," 
 said the minister, patting Margaret s shoulder. 
 
 The sky was bright with stars when they came out 
 again, and in every house they passed the "early candle
 
 I/O AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 light" was making a cheerful glow. Saturday evening 
 was religiously observed by old and young ; not even a 
 child s laugh was heard, and the soft chant of the waves 
 seemed only to intensify the Sabbatic hush. But in the 
 doorways and at the open windows men and women sat 
 silently watching, their tense figures dimly outlined 
 against the flickering light within. 
 
 " They are waiting for the verdict," said the old man. 
 " God grant it be not heavier than they forebode ! O 
 England ! England ! " 
 
 Margaret made no answer ; she was too intent on lis 
 tening. But there came no sound of hoofs. Presently, 
 however, there was a patter of feet, and Neb, the Brews- 
 ters great black Newfoundland, bounded past them. 
 Margaret started forward with a little cry, and called 
 him by name, but the dog forged ahead. 
 
 And now they were at the gate. 
 
 " Why not go a little farther?" urged the girl, " at 
 least to the corner ; the night is so pleasant, and it is so 
 hard to wait indoors." 
 
 "It is not wise to give way to impatience," said the 
 old man. "Thou shouldst learn to hold thyself quiet 
 till events shape themselves to the All-wise Will." But 
 he went on. 
 
 "It is good to walk on a night like this," he said, 
 baring his head ; and it was not until thev found them- 
 
 & */ 
 
 selves half-way to Bridgehampton that he halted. 
 
 "We have gone far enough, little one. Prudence 
 will be disturbed about us, and it is not well to disturb 
 any one needlessly."
 
 WHAT NEWS? I/I 
 
 Margaret turned unwillingly. But suddenly she went 
 down on her knees, and laid her ear to the earth. 
 
 "Some one is coming," she cried. "I hear hoofs. 
 Listen, grandpa ! They are almost here." 
 
 Neb, who for the last half-mile had been jogging be 
 side them, seemed to comprehend at once Margaret s 
 movement ; for he put his nose to the ground, and then 
 with a joyful yelp dashed off again. 
 
 "Ah, Neb knows who it is," cried the old man, with 
 the eagerness of a boy. And impatient now as Marga 
 ret herself, he caught her hand, and went hurrying with 
 her along the dusky road. Neb was far in advance of 
 them, and from time to time his quick bark could be 
 heard. Then, abruptly, a man s voice shouted the dog s 
 name ; and, before Neb s frenzy of delight had spent 
 itself, Brewster came galloping toward them. But he 
 was looking to neither the right nor the left, and gave 
 no sign of halting till a quick whinny made him aware 
 that Rex had recognized some one. 
 
 "What, you, Friend Thurston? " he exclaimed, as the 
 old Quaker stepped from the shadowy wayside. " And 
 Marjorie? Ah, I was thinking of thee, sweetheart," he 
 whispered, leaping from the saddle, and taking the girl s 
 outstretched hands. 
 
 " What news, Lodowick? what news? " cried the old 
 man. 
 
 "What news?" repeated the young man slowly. 
 "Alas, Friend Thurston, I have nothing good to report ! 
 England is determined to put us to the sword. Nine 
 thousand men have been landed on the Island, with forty
 
 1/2 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 pieces of cannon. Washington has sent six battalions 
 to re-enforce General Greene, who is stationed at Brook 
 lyn ; but six times that number are likely to be needed, 
 for it is feared that the British, with the remainder of the 
 twenty thousand that embarked from Staten Island, are 
 preparing to attack New York. They are already in 
 possession of Flatbush and Gravesend, and the inhabi 
 tants of Brooklyn feel that the village is doomed. But 
 there is no thought of going over to the enemy. Colonel 
 Hand, with his rifle regiment, is stationed in the neigh 
 borhood of Flatbush ; and our friends the Remsens, with 
 whom I tarried for an hour s rest, say that the people are 
 doing all in their power to co-operate with the soldiers." 
 
 While giving these particulars he had dismounted. 
 
 "It seems good to be out of the saddle," he said, 
 drawing Margaret s hand to his arm. 
 
 " It has been a hard journey for you," said the girl. 
 "And for Rex, too, poor fellow ! He will be glad to 
 get to his stall." 
 
 "Oh, Rex has had a fine rest! I left him at St. 
 George s Manor. It was only by making frequent 
 changes that I succeeded in getting back to-night. The 
 whole length of the Island the utmost anxiety prevails. 
 General Woodhull is at Jamaica with about one hundred 
 men, and Colonel Remsen and Colonel Smith are ex 
 pected to join him ; but it is little they will be able to 
 do toward checking the advance of the enemy, and 
 many are already removing their families and effects to 
 a safer distance. It is a disheartening outlook. It would 
 be bad enough to have our flocks and herds at their
 
 " BREWSTER CAME GALLOPING TOWARD THEM. LOOKING NEITHER 
 TO THE RIGHT NOR THE LEFT."
 
 WHAT NEWS? 173 
 
 mercy ; but to have our homes endangered " He 
 
 left the sentence unfinished, and folded Margaret s hand 
 closer in his own, while the old man put his arm about 
 her; and, walking between them, her heart warm with 
 a sense of their protecting love, the girl for the moment 
 half forgot her fears. 
 
 When they first entered the village nothing but silence 
 greeted them. Most of the lights were out, and every 
 body was apparently asleep. But Rex, in his haste for 
 his* supper, presently pulled away from his master, and 
 having heralded their return with a mighty neigh, went 
 trotting homeward. And now r from every doorstep 
 human beings started up like ghosts. 
 
 "What news? what news?" was the cry that broke 
 the stillness of the summer night, the voices that asked 
 the question sounding strained and unfamiliar. 
 
 And over and over the tired messenger told the harsh 
 tidings over and over, till his lips grew dry and his 
 heart failed him, so bitter was it to know that with every 
 word he was slaying hope. Even in the dim light he 
 could see the clenched hands and blanched faces. Men 
 listened as if dazed, and women clung to each other, 
 shaken with tearless sobs. 
 
 In the neighboring Hamptons the stars looked down 
 on similar,scenes that August night. And the East End 
 was not alone in its anguish. Through all the country 
 side, and into every village and hamlet the length and 
 breadth of the Island, the same dread tidings were carry 
 ing terror and despair ; for the end was not yet, and 
 none knew what might be on the morrow.
 
 174 A N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 DOOMED. 
 
 THEY were heavy-hearted congregations that gath 
 ered in the quaint old meeting-houses on the East 
 End that Lord s Day morning, Aug, 25, 1776; and 
 Priest Buell and Priest White were not the only pastors 
 who, looking down into the troubled faces of their people, 
 felt themselves speechless, for the moment, in the pres 
 ence of this brooding woe. 
 
 " Merciful Father, be merciful unto thy stricken chil 
 dren," prayed Priest Buell, with a sinking heart. But 
 when he opened the Book he found no lack of comfort 
 ing and strengthening words, words so apt and " time- 
 ous " that they seemed to those that listened to them as 
 if they had been written purposely for this day of their 
 calamity. And no one took note that morning of the 
 turning of the hour-glass. 
 
 Outside the meeting-house the sun shone, and the birds 
 sang, and the soft rhythm of the surf was like a hymn 
 of peace. But, though nature gave no sign of the com 
 ing conflict, scarcely a hundred miles away preparations 
 were being pushed forward with all possible despatch. 
 Two brigades of General De Heister s Hessians were 
 that day landed on the doomed Island ; and ship after
 
 DOOMED. 175 
 
 ship was seen, by those on the opposite shore, dropping 
 silently down to the Narrows. But for two days no 
 definite news found its way to the East End, and the 
 people waited with despairing hearts. The Committee 
 of Safety had again received warning to have the stock 
 in shape to be removed at the briefest notice, and the 
 minute-men and militia were holding themselves in readi 
 ness to march at any moment and still there came 
 nothing but vague rumors. 
 
 But on the third day, at nightfall, a huge white horse 
 was seen plunging through the village, carrying a hag 
 gard, white-faced rider. 
 
 " News ! News ! " shouted a voice on the street. And 
 before the herald could reach the inn, a crowd had gath 
 ered in his wake. 
 
 The story has been many a time rehearsed since then 
 how the Americans, hemmed in on every side and 
 overpowered by superior numbers, were bayoneted by 
 the brutal Hessians, and trampled to death by the cav 
 alry ; how all that summer morning the unequal fight 
 went on, the heroic band of patriots withstanding the 
 foreign hordes with a courage that was none the less 
 grand because of its utter hopelessness ; how the enemy, 
 though outnumbering them six to one, was held at bay 
 for hours by the brave young Delawares and Maryland- 
 ers ; how England s hired allies glutted themselves with 
 blood ; and how, at last, when the carnage ended, nearly 
 two thousand patriots lay dead in marsh and meadow, 
 on wooded hillsides and in the fields of ripening corn. 
 But they who heard it for the first time in after years
 
 1/6 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 could little realize how like a death-warrant it smote the 
 ears of those who listened to it that summer night so 
 long ago. 
 
 Before a week passed Captain Mulford and many of 
 his men came hurrying home. They, with other East 
 End troops, had taken an active part in the engagement, 
 and their bravery had been warmly commended ; but 
 Colonel Smith, immediately after the battle, well aware 
 of the danger that threatened the East End, had given 
 every man leave to go to the protection of his family, 
 and their reports brought new dismay. "The sooner 
 we make our escape the better," said John Thurston bit 
 terly. " In a conquered territory there is no safety for 
 patriots." 
 
 But, before the bewildered people could determine 
 what course was best, word came that Congress had re 
 quested Connecticut to send a thousand troops to their 
 assistance, all the towns on the Connecticut coast being 
 expected to lend their help. It was much too good to 
 be true, the promised troops had so long proved a myth ; 
 but with the grim courage of despair they caught at the 
 forlorn hope, and began once more to plan for the pro 
 visioning of the expected forces. 
 
 But close on the heels of this message came rumors of 
 the retreat of the American army from Long Island, and 
 of the probability that New York City would shortly have 
 to be given over to the enemy. And then, from the 
 clouds that had so long been gathering blackness, fell 
 the final thunderbolt : owing to the utter impossibility of 
 raising enough troops to protect such a stretch of open
 
 DOOMED. 1 77 
 
 country, Washington had at last been compelled, sor 
 rowfully, and through sheer force of circumstances, to 
 abandon the Island. 
 
 Accompanying this verdict of doom was a message 
 from Congress recommending that the women and chil 
 dren, together with the slaves and stock, be removed at 
 once across the Sound, under the protection of Colonel 
 Livingston. 
 
 Men gazed at each other with blanched faces, know 
 ing that this recommendation of Congress was practi 
 cally a sentence of exile ; that it meant the leaving of 
 houses and lands to be despoiled by the enemy, and that 
 for many of the families it involved absolute beggary. 
 
 Only one other course was open to them, and that was 
 the taking of the oath of allegiance to King George, the 
 safety of person and propertv having been promised by 
 proclamation to all who consented to accept this condi 
 tion, and remain quietly at their homes. The oath in 
 cluded a pledge to refrain, both from engaging actively 
 in the war, and from harboring or assisting, in any way 
 whatever, those that were in the army. But even those 
 w r ho had cherished the hope of a reconciliation between 
 England and the colonies hotly resented the suggestion 
 of this alternative. 
 
 "Are we not pledged never to allow ourselves to be 
 come slaves?" cried Aaron Neale, in a towering rage. 
 
 "And what is to become of the slaves themselves, 
 Aaron?" asked his father-in-law anxiously. "It is 
 thought by some that they will go over to the enemy." 
 
 " Nay, there is nothing of that sort to be apprehended.
 
 178 AH ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 They know too well that it was England that made them 
 slaves, and some of them can still remember being pent 
 in the hold of the British ship that brought them to 
 America." 
 
 "Ah, it was an unrighteous thing that England did 
 when she forced slavery on the colonies," lamented the 
 old Quaker. " It was a violation of the spirit of her 
 own common law. No wonder that John Woolman has 
 lifted up his voice against it ; and, thank God, it has not 
 been in vain. Among the Friends, so well have his ex 
 hortations been heeded, there is scarcely a family that 
 has not freed its slaves ; and I should rejoice, Aaron, to 
 see thee follow their example." 
 
 "I have already tried to do it, father; but Timothy 
 and Hagar refuse to take their freedom. They know no 
 other home, and while you and Margaret stay I have 
 no fear of their wishing to change. In fact, I doubt if 
 any of them could be won over by the enemy. Look at 
 Tobe. Do you think that any amount of persuasion 
 would make him disloyal to the Gardiners? And I 
 should like to see the redcoat that could win old Sharper 
 from his allegiance to Marse Stratton. It is the same 
 with Squire Hedges Jake and the Mackies Pomp. 
 Still, it is their right to be free ; and, whether the resolu 
 tion passed by Congress that no more African slaves 
 shall be imported into any of the colonies be enforced 
 or not, of one thing you may be certain, father when 
 we have won our own freedom, we are not going to 
 allow any more slaves to be brought to the East End." 
 
 "That is bravely said, Aaron," John Thurston re-
 
 DOOMED. 179 
 
 marked gloomily ; " but it bids fair to be a far call from 
 now to the day when we ourselves shall be free men." 
 
 " Courage, man, courage; it is bound to come," said 
 Aaron ; " and it may be nearer than we think." 
 
 " Be it near or far, we have sore need of courage," 
 answered Thurston, pressing his lips together. 
 
 And never did men submit with nobler courage to a 
 harsh but inevitable decree, than did these patriots of 
 the East End. To be thus abandoned in their extremity 
 seemed indeed a poor return for their devotion to the 
 cause ; but they felt that the measure was one that the 
 exigencies of war made imperative, and preparations for 
 the exodus were begun at once, spurred on by the rumor 
 that a detachment of three hundred horse and a company 
 of infantry were about to invade the county.
 
 l8o AW ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 EXILED. 
 
 IN these days, when the love of change has made 
 "moving" in many households a sort of an annual 
 May-day celebration, it is hard to measure what this 
 exodus meant to people whose houses had been the 
 family dwelling-place for more than a century. Every 
 room beneath those ancient roofs held precious memo 
 ries ; the very hollows in the door-sills, worn by feet 
 that no longer trod the earth, were dear to them ; but, 
 though hearts were torn with anguish, the hurry and 
 confusion incident to the sudden breaking up of the 
 home left no time for tears. 
 
 The exiles were to be conveyed to Connecticut in 
 government boats ; and, as they were allowed to carry 
 with them only such of their belongings as could be 
 conveniently transported, it became a hard matter to 
 decide what to take and what to leave. 
 
 There was not a great deal of plate in the community ; 
 a porringer or a tankard brought from the old country, 
 a cup or two, and the family spoons, were the most that 
 any house could boast ; and while treasures of this de 
 scription, that had been hastily buried in dooryard or 
 garden on some previous alarm, were as hastily un-
 
 EXILED. 1 8 1 
 
 earthed and secured, many an ancient heirloom, more 
 prized than silver or gold, had to be left to take the 
 chances of falling into the enemy s hands. 
 
 But those who had to leave behind them nothing 
 more precious than worldly goods were accounted for 
 tunate ; for in some households there were invalids too 
 feeble to be removed, and in others those whom old age 
 chained to the chimney-corner. 
 
 "They are not going to scare me away," said Miss 
 Mghitable Hand. " If father and Caleb go, some- 
 body ll have to stay to manage the farm ; and, as Job 
 Lumley has enlisted, I ve offered his family a home on 
 condition that Job junior acts as factotum. Job s quite 
 a boy now, you know, almost able to do a man s \vork ; 
 and we are to have old Wolf for our guardian dragon." 
 
 " Well, you re pretty brave, Mehitable," said old 
 Mrs. Miller, who had already expressed her determina 
 tion to " stay by the stuff ; " " but it isn t as if you were 
 helpless like Frances Brewster. Poor child ! what is to 
 become of her? " 
 
 At the Brewsters , meamvhile, the same question was 
 being discussed. For ten years Frances Brewster had 
 been unable to walk the length of her room, and it was 
 useless to think of having her taken to Connecticut. 
 There was Debby, too, to be considered, pretty little 
 Debby, and Lodowick found himself in a sore strait; 
 even his country s needs seemed scarcely to justify him 
 in leaving his sisters unprotected. For hours he walked 
 the floor, tortured with indecision. Frances, Deborah, 
 Margaret how could he go, not knowing what evil
 
 1 82 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 might befall them ? And yet to stay for their sake when 
 the country was so sorely in need of men, seemed like 
 distrusting Providence. And Miss Frances was equally 
 patriotic. 
 
 "With Mam Zany and old Neb to guard the house, 
 I shall be well protected," she said. "Not even a Tory 
 would molest the home of a helpless invalid." 
 
 "If Frances stays, I stay," Deborah declared, when 
 her sister, shuddering at the thought of the dangers the 
 little maid might have to face, entreated to have her 
 sent to relatives in Lynn. " Under her wing I should 
 be safer and far happier than I could possibly be any 
 where else." And Lodowick being of the same mind, 
 Frances found it useless to argue the point. 
 
 At the Thurstons the house was at first divided 
 against itself. Prudence promptly announced that she 
 intended to stay to " look after things," and that she 
 should keep Ben with her ; but she advised her father- 
 in-law and Margaret to lose no time in making their 
 escape. 
 
 " With his son and two sons-in-law in the rebel arm)-, 
 as they probably will be, unless some one can bring 
 them to see their folly," she remarked to Margaret, " it 
 isn t reasonable to suppose that the British will feel very 
 friendly toward your grandfather ; and, of course, he 
 wouldn t go without you." 
 
 But the old man had already decided the matter. 
 
 "With thee here, Prudence, I shall have no fear," 
 he said, with a shrewd smile hovering in his eyes. 
 
 "But Margaret, father, think of Margaret! She is
 
 EXILED. 183 
 
 young and heedless, and would be much safer with her 
 friends in Connecticut." 
 
 Margaret bridled at that. 
 
 "My father says that I am to stay, Aunt Prudence." 
 And the brown eyes threw out a signal that Prudence 
 knew meant danger. "He says that our friends in 
 Connecticut and Massachusetts have burdens enough of 
 their own to carry, and that as long as grandpa prefers 
 to stay I ought not to leave him." 
 
 * Oh ! it is all right, if he s willing to take the risk," 
 Prudence hastened to say. This had been her home 
 while her first husband, Sylvester Thurston, lived; and 
 when, after the death of her second husband, Sergeant 
 Golby, of His Majesty s troops, her father-in-law invited 
 her, for Ben s sake, to return to the homestead, it was 
 with the understanding that, while she was to have the 
 general supervision of household matters, and was to in 
 struct Margaret in all housewifely accomplishments, she 
 was to lay down no arbitrary rules. Hence, in the pres 
 ent case, fully aware that she held her position as matron 
 of the house only on sufferance, she felt that it would 
 not be wise to offer any further opposition. 
 
 " But I warn you beforehand," she could not forbear 
 adding, " that you will have to take proper care how you 
 conduct yourself. As I tell Benjamin, it won t do to 
 show any disloyalty to King George, nor any incivility 
 to his men." 
 
 "Oh! I expect to treat em civilly, if I treat em at 
 all," said Ben; "but I don t propose being very sweet 
 to em, and I don t believe Meg does either."
 
 I 84 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Margaret is not likely to have occasion to treat them 
 either civilly or uncivilly," said his grandfather, putting 
 a protecting arm around the girl. " They will hardly 
 expect the inhabitants to entertain them." 
 
 "Well, I don t know about that," answered Ben. 
 "They say that up the Island they re billeting them on 
 the people by the wholesale. But, the way folks are 
 rushing off down here, it looks as if there wouldn t be 
 much except empty houses left. But see here, Meg," 
 he said, lowering his voice, " if I ve got to stay, Lod 
 Brewster needn t worry about Debby and Miss Frances." 
 And with that he pulled out his handkerchief, and wiped 
 his forehead, declaring that it was hot enough to stifle 
 one, which was very true. 
 
 Just then Priest Buell hurried in to ask if the family 
 had decided to remain. 
 
 "It is what we purpose doing," the old Quaker an 
 swered. "According to the light given us, it seems our 
 wisest course. And how about thyself, Friend Buell? 
 Dost thou intend to tarry?" 
 
 "Ah, indeed I do. I cast in my lot with this people 
 for better or worse ; and after having been permitted to 
 minister to them through thirty years of peace, it would 
 ill become me to desert, at a time like this, those of 
 the flock who are compelled to stay. I should almost 
 expect my venerated predecessors, Priest James * and 
 Father I limiting, to rise up in judgment against me if I 
 proved so recreant to my trust. With the exception of 
 
 1 Priest James was, at his own request, buried in such a position that, at the 
 resurrection, he would rise facing his congregation.
 
 EXILED. 185 
 
 Brother White at Southampton, I am likely to be the 
 only pastor on this end of the Island, and here I ex 
 pect to remain until the Lord takes me hence. But 
 there will be few left, I fear, for me to minister to ; for 
 those that go will far outnumber the residue. It will be 
 truly a deserted village. Ah, look ! there are some now, 
 just starting for the Harbor," he cried, catching sight 
 of a farm-wagon filled with women and children. " O 
 my people ! my people ! a people robbed and spoiled. 
 Aiad seizing his hat, he flew to the street to give the 
 exiles a parting benediction. 
 
 Margaret looked out with sorrowful eyes. She had 
 been hard at work since early morning, helping the 
 neighbors in their hurried preparations for flight ; but 
 she had not the heart to bid any of them farewell. Her 
 father and her Uncle John were to start that night, and 
 Lodowick Brewster was hoping to go with them. She 
 pressed her hands together, and tried hard to be brave ; 
 but the lawless tears refused to be held in check. 
 
 Presently her father dashed in. 
 
 " Come up-stairs with me, child," he said, in a hasty 
 whisper. " I have something to tell you." Margaret 
 followed him wonderingly. 
 
 " Look," he said, when they had reached the attic. 
 " If ever, for yourself or another, you need a place of 
 refuge, here it is." On each side of the dormer window, 
 and flush with the casement, was a siding of unplaned 
 boards. It was a favorite place with Prudence for dry 
 ing her simples, great bunches of pungent herbs, with 
 garlands of red peppers and shredded pumpkin, were
 
 1 86 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 the usual decorations, and Margaret said to herself 
 that it would hardly be a safe covert ; but her father 
 drew back a board that had been fitted into a groove in 
 such a way that, by any one who understood, it could 
 easily be removed, and showed her, behind it, under the 
 slope of the roof, a large oblong space, within which 
 was a narrow settle furnished with a straw mattress, a 
 pillow, and a pair of heavy blankets. 
 
 " Remember," he charged her, " no one else knows of 
 it." And having replaced the board, he hurried down. 
 
 "O my God! " she heard him exclaim; and at the 
 foot of the stairs he turned, and caught her to his breast. 
 
 "God grant, little one, you may never have use for 
 it ! " he said huskily. 
 
 As he was rushing out he met Brewster ; and Mar 
 garet saw the two men grasp each other by the hand, 
 and stand for a moment in earnest discussion. 
 
 " Come in, Lodowick, come in," said her grand 
 father, who was standing in the doorway, as Lodowick 
 came up the walk. And then, surmising that he was 
 not the one the young man wanted to see, he was about 
 to withdraw ; but Lodowick stopped him. 
 
 " Wait, Friend Thurston, I have something to lay 
 before thee ; something that concerns thee, sweetheart," 
 he said, taking Margaret s hand. " I have already 
 spoken to your father, and he approves the plan. But 
 he is with the Safety Committee, and he says that if he 
 is not back by night we are to proceed without him. 
 My request, Friend Thurston, is this, that Margaret and 
 I may be married at once. Wait, hear me out," he
 
 EXILED. IS/ 
 
 pleaded, seeing a look of disapproval on the old man s 
 face. " When one goes into battle, none can tell whether 
 or not he will come out alive. The chances of war are 
 for death rather than life ; it may be that none of us will 
 live to come back. You, too, Friend Thurston, may be 
 taken ; and in that case Margaret will have no one to 
 turn to but her Aunt Prudence. But let her have my 
 name, and, should she be left alone, my home would be 
 come her home, and my sister Frances would be a mother 
 to her. There is another reason, a selfish one, I own, 
 but my heart urges it : should I be sick or \vounded, it 
 might be that, as my wife, she would be permitted to 
 come to me. Are you not willing, sweetheart?" 
 
 The suddenness of the proposition almost took away 
 her breath, but there was no time to deliberate. 
 
 " I will do whatever is best, Lodowick," she said 
 quietly, laying both her hands in his. 
 
 The old man was standing with bowed head, as if 
 waiting for the guidance of the Indwelling Light ; and 
 when he lifted his face the young man knew that the 
 guidance was in accordance with his wish. 
 
 "Ay, Lodowick, it will doubtless be better so. But 
 she is young to marry ; and, though I would not counsel 
 deceit, perhaps, as things are, it may be wiser to say 
 nothing to Prudence about it at present. She might not 
 be willing to give thee her blessing, little one, on so 
 short a notice. Prudence is one that likes to have a 
 matter thoroughly talked over, and Lodowick has no 
 time to waste." 
 
 The young man listened to this advice with grave ap-
 
 I 88 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 preciation ; and, having arranged to meet them at the 
 parsonage at "early candle light," he hurried off to 
 attend to the necessary preliminaries. 
 
 On his way to the gate he met little Rick. 
 
 " Good-by, Rick," he said, rubbing his hand over the 
 curly pate. " I m going away, and you must take good 
 care of Miss Margaret. Now remember, Rick." 
 
 " I s goin to wemember, Marse Lod ick, tause Miss 
 Marg et s my dirl," answered Rick, scanning soberly the 
 penny that Brewster had dropped into his hand. 
 
 Margaret, leaning from the window, smiled on them 
 through a mist of unshed tears. Then she turned to 
 her grandfather, and, throwing her arms around his 
 neck, fell to weeping in earnest.
 
 A SOLDIER S BRIDE. 189 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A SOLDIER S BRIDE. 
 
 HEN supper was over that night, Margaret ran up 
 to her room, and changed her gray linen gown 
 for one of white lawn. 
 
 "Eh, Meg, how cool and comfortable you look!" 
 cried Ben, meeting her on the way down. " Everybody 
 ought to dress like that, such weather as this. Cools 
 one off just to look at you. And it s ever so becoming." 
 
 "Oh! you re a flatterer, Ben," laughed Margaret, 
 glad that the heat served as an excuse for her wearing 
 white. 
 
 Her grandfather met her at the foot of the stairs ; and 
 as Prudence, fortunately, was busy with household mat 
 ters, they went out unnoticed. At the parsonage they 
 were received by Mrs. Gardiner. 
 
 "My little Margaret!" she cried, putting her arms 
 around the girl. "Yes, I know. Lodowick has been 
 here to tell us. But, O my deary, it is so Ah, here 
 is Lodowick himself, and Deborah." And, with a quick 
 welcome, she led the way to the study. A moment later 
 they were joined by Aaron Neale and John Thurston. 
 
 " I couldn t forego being here to give away my little 
 girl," said Aaron, drawing Margaret to his side ; " but I
 
 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 you will make the service as short as possible, 
 Friend Buell, for our sloop sails with the turn of the 
 tide, and time presses." 
 
 "Where is Prudence?" asked John Thurston impa 
 tiently, fearing that they were going to be delayed. 
 
 "We have not taken Prudence into our confidence in 
 this matter," answered his father. " We could not wait 
 to bandy words." 
 
 "You were wise, father," said Aaron Neale. " And, 
 since all those whom it most nearly concerns are here to 
 witness the ceremony, why make it public until Lodo- 
 wick returns to claim his bride? As the wife of a rebel 
 soldier she might, perhaps, be subjected to annoyances. 
 What say you, Friend Buell ? " 
 
 "As a rule, secrecy in such matters is not advisable," 
 said the minister, slowly; "but in this instance the cir 
 cumstances, I think, justify it. Lodowick, however, is 
 the one to decide it." 
 
 "It had not occurred to me before, but perhaps it 
 would be our wisest course," said the young man. He 
 wore his soldier suit, and, with his high boots and bris 
 tling spurs, looked more as if shod for battle than like 
 one about to lead his bride to the altar. John Thurs 
 ton and Aaron Neale were similarly equipped ; and, the 
 instant the simple ceremony was at an end, they seized 
 their hats. 
 
 " We must be off," said Neale, giving his daughter a 
 hasty embrace. 
 
 "Oh, one moment, friends!" cried Priest Buell. 
 " Jerusha, my dear, have we no wedding-cheer to offer? "
 
 A SOLDIER S BRIDE. 19 1 
 
 " No, no," interposed John Thurston, snatching a kiss 
 from Margaret; "some other time, God willing, we ll 
 have the wedding-feast. Not to-night. We have tarried 
 too long already." 
 
 For an instant Lodowick held Margaret to his heart ; 
 and it was not till she found herself in her grandfather s 
 arms, with Deborah bathing her forehead, that she 
 realized that he was gone. 
 
 " Courage, my child," said Priest Buell. " Weeping 
 may endure for a night, but the war will soon be over, 
 please God, and then " But he broke off the sen 
 
 tence, with a shuddering sense of what that "then" 
 might hold of grief and desolation ; and, when the guests 
 rose to go, he grasped their hands in silence. 
 
 " It is a weary time for him," sighed the old Quaker, 
 drawing Margaret s hand to his arm ; and none of them 
 spoke again until they said good-night at Deborah s 
 gate. 
 
 At their own house they found the lights out and the 
 door fastened, though it was not yet nine o clock. 
 
 " Hold on ! I ll let you in," called Ben from an upper 
 window, as Margaret lifted the knocker. And the next 
 moment he came on tiptoe down the stairs. 
 
 " Did you know that your father and Uncle John have 
 started?" he asked, as he softly closed the door behind 
 them. " Mother had their supper waiting for them, but 
 they couldn t stop to take anything more n a snack while 
 the horses were feeding. And Lod Brewster, he " 
 
 "Yes, yes; we know. Thou rt telling us no news, 
 Benjamin," interrupted his grandfather, with what, to
 
 /IN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Ben, seemed uncalled-for sternness ; " and now get back 
 to bed." 
 
 " Good-night, little one, and God bless thee," he said 
 to Margaret, kissing her tenderly. 
 
 " What s the matter with grandpa? He s short as pie 
 crust to me," grumbled Ben, as he .scurried up ahead of 
 her. " He s sweet enough to you. S pose if I were a 
 girl, I might get a God bless thee, too." 
 
 "Oh! he is tired and troubled, Ben. He is an old 
 man, and it is hard for him to see his sons going to war 
 again, and his friends and neighbors driven from their 
 homes. Oh, war is cruel, cruel, Ben ! " 
 
 "There, don t cry, Meg; it won t last forever. Say, 
 did you see Debby? Poor Deb! It s pretty hard for 
 her, having Lod go." But Meg had closed her door.
 
 A HAPPY CONFESSION. 193 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A HAPPY CONFESSION. 
 
 DAY after day, during the following week, on every 
 road that led from the Hamptons to the Harbor, 
 farm-wagons and ox-carts pulled heavily through the 
 sand, loaded with those who, like their Puritan ances 
 tors, and with scarcely less of danger and uncertainty be 
 fore them, were, for conscience sake, turning their backs 
 on home and friends ; and day after day the old wharf 
 was crowded with the exiles. It was under the protec 
 tion of that stanch patriot, Lieutenant-Colonel Living 
 ston, that the removal was effected ; and more than 
 once, at the sight of the heart-breaking partings that 
 took place on the wharf, the brave soldier had to feign 
 a roughness that was foreign to him. 
 
 " England will yet rue the day that she drove these 
 Islanders from their homes," he said to Jonathan Hedges, 
 who, with Colonel Gardiner, was standing on the dock, 
 the two having ridden over to see some of their kinsfolk 
 off. 
 
 "Ay, and she well deserves to rue it," said Hedges. 
 " It is an unrighteous war that she is waging." 
 
 "What, not going, Colonel?" asked Burnet Miller, 
 seein<r that Gardiner was mounting his horse.
 
 194 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 The Colonel shook his head. 
 
 "Circumstances that involve the interests of others 
 compel me to remain," he replied, heading his horse to 
 ward home. 
 
 "Then you are more to be pitied, I fear, than the 
 exiles," said Livingston ; " for sooner or later those that 
 remain will have to bow to the yoke." 
 
 "God forbid!" cried Hedges. But the prediction 
 was speedily verified. 
 
 " They say the king s officers are on their way down 
 the Island to make every man take the oath, whether he 
 wants to or not," Ben remarked the next morning, at 
 the breakfast-table; "and a lot more of the folks are 
 going to leave to-day." 
 
 " Simpletons ! " scoffed Prudence. " Can t they see 
 that they are jumping from the frying-pan into the fire? 
 When this petty rebellion is quelled, they will find out 
 their folly." 
 
 " Be not too positive, Prudence," said her father-in- 
 law, suavely. " It may be that the British will be the 
 ones to be quelled." 
 
 "We ll see," Prudence answered, with a confident 
 toss of the head. " Tisn t likely that the king s troops 
 are going to be routed by the raw recruits that make up 
 the rebel army." 
 
 "Guess they wouldn t call Uncle Aaron and Uncle 
 John very raw recruits if they happened to get in range 
 of their guns," quoth Ben, helping himself bountifully 
 from the sugar-bowl. 
 
 " There, Benjamin, that will do. You don t need
 
 A HAPPY CONFESSION. 195 
 
 sugar on baked beans," remonstrated his mother. " Re 
 member that, when the sugar we have on hand gives 
 out, there s no telling when we ll get any more, the 
 colonies are so set on their ridiculous non-importation 
 scheme." 
 
 "Not until the rebellion is over, that s very certain," 
 answered Ben, attacking the beans with a relish. 
 
 "Turn your knife over, Benjamin, unless you want 
 to cut your mouth," said his mother, severely. "That s 
 no way for a gentleman to eat." 
 
 Just then the Osgood wagon stopped at the gate, and 
 Richard Osgood and his brother hurried in. 
 
 " What, Richard, art thou going? and thou too, Joel?" 
 asked the old Quaker, seeing that they were equipped 
 for a journey. 
 
 " Yes, father," said Richard. " We had hoped to be 
 able to stay, but the king s officers are coming down 
 to make requisition ; and, if we remain, we shall be in 
 danger of having to forswear ourselves. Besides, the 
 country has need of every man that can shoulder a gun ; 
 and, in spite of our years, we are good, I trust, for at 
 least one more campaign." 
 
 "And what is to be done with the farm?" 
 
 "We did purpose leaving it to its fate; but Grand 
 mother Osgood was breaking her heart over the thought 
 of giving up her home, and Betty and her mother have 
 at last decided not to go. Burt, too, stays, of course, 
 though much against his will. I feel far from easy 
 about leaving them, but there seems no other way. 
 Come here, Meg, and kiss me. We stopped only to
 
 196 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 say good-by. Betty is in the wagon," he added. "We 
 advised her not to come in, fearing you would find too 
 much to talk about girls are such magpies." 
 
 "Well, you haven t bettered matters," said Joel, with 
 a laugh, as Meg went flying to the gate. 
 
 The girls had not seen each other since the exodus 
 began ; and Margaret, with her foot on a spoke, reached 
 up and kissed Betty. 
 
 " O Meg, it is terrible ! " moaned Betty. " What is 
 to become of us? " 
 
 "Yes, it is terrible; but there is less danger for us, 
 I imagine, than for those who are at the front. I shudder 
 to think of it." 
 
 " Madge," said Betty, abruptly, " where is Lodowick 
 Brewster? Ben says he went away with your father and 
 Uncle John. Isn t he coming back? " 
 
 " Not, I fear, till the war is over. And there s some 
 thing I ve been wanting to tell you, Betty." 
 
 "Jump in, Meg, and go home with us," cried her 
 uncle, hurrying out. "It ll do Betty good. She will 
 need cheering up, I m afraid, after we re gone." 
 
 Margaret was not sorry to go. The events of the 
 last few days had been a weary strain, and her aunt s 
 lack of sympathy made her eager to escape, for a time 
 at least, into a kindlier atmosphere. 
 
 "O Aunt Ruth, what a comfort it is that you and 
 Betty are not going," she cried, when Mrs. Osgood put 
 her arms about her. "And yet oh, how desolate you 
 will be ! " 
 
 "Not so desolate here as we should be amoujx stran-
 
 A HAPPY CONFESSION. 197 
 
 gers," Mrs. Osgood answered quietly. "If father and 
 Joel join the army, we shall be separated from them, 
 whether we go or stay ; and, besides, grandma is really 
 too old and feeble to risk so long a journey." And, giv 
 ing Margaret another kiss, she went to the kitchen to 
 quicken preparations for dinner, for the two men were 
 impatient to be off. 
 
 "Margaret will pardon us if we eat in haste," said 
 Richard Osgood, helping himself without ceremony. 
 
 "She will pardon these pewter spoons, too, I trust," 
 said Mrs. Osgood, as she served the samp porridge. 
 "We have packed up all the silver ones. Your uncle 
 is going to take them to his sister in Saybrook, feeling 
 that they will be safer there." 
 
 "And the brass candlesticks, and the silver tankard 
 and porringer that Grandmother Osgood brought from 
 England go with them," added Betty, her lip quiver 
 ing. 
 
 "Yes, everything of the kind, except grandma s 
 posset cup," said Mrs. Osgood, with a brave smile. 
 " Grandma s posset wouldn t be quite to her liking if she 
 had to drink it from anything else." 
 
 " Grandma is as bad as Elias Pelton," said her hus 
 band. " When he packed his knapsack he put in that 
 old silver-rimmed cocoanut cup it has been in the 
 family a hundred years or more I dare say you ve 
 all seen it and he says a drink never tastes the same 
 from anything else." 
 
 "The Brewsters have one very much like it," re 
 marked his brother, "one that their father carried with
 
 198 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 him through all the French and Indian War. No doubt 
 Lodowick has taken it." 
 
 Neither Betty nor Margaret made any response. 
 Betty was grieving that she had had no farewell word 
 from Lodowick, while Margaret was thinking of the last 
 time that the cocoanut cup was filled for her ; and only 
 yesterday Deborah had told her that Lodowick had in 
 sisted on having it put into his knapsack, though she 
 had offered him her own little silver cup instead. No 
 one, however, noticed that they had nothing to say. 
 The two men were intent on despatching their dinner, 
 and Mrs. Osgood was trying to brace herself for the 
 parting. Besides, there was a boy at the table ; and 
 boys, as a rule, are no respecters of silence. 
 
 "Wish I had Lod Brewster s big brown horse," said 
 the boy, irrelevantly. "There isn t another like him 
 in this part of the world. Lod d better look out, or the 
 British 11 be nabbing him. You ll have to look out for 
 Lord Lion, Meg ; for, cording to all accounts, they re 
 mighty fond of fine horses." 
 
 "Then they are to be commended for their taste," 
 said his uncle. " And don t you vex yourself about 
 Lord Lion, Meg, my dear. It isn t likely they d be 
 such brutes as to want to rob a girl of her pet pony. 
 But see where the sun is, Richard ! " 
 
 A sad and hasty leave-taking followed. 
 
 "Do let us go out-of-doors, Madge," cried Betty. 
 "The house stifles me. It is all like a horrible night 
 mare, the sorrow and desolation that have come into our 
 homes. If we could only find that we had dreamed ! "
 
 A HAPPY CONFESSION. 199 
 
 "Let us go to the beach," said Margaret. And 
 they took in silence the sandy path that led to the sea. 
 But when they reached the shore, Betty broke the 
 spell. 
 
 "What was it you wanted to tell me, Meg?" she 
 asked, her voice betraying her eagerness. 
 
 Margaret hesitated, fearing that her confession might 
 be a shock to Betty. 
 
 "I wanted to tell you," she said, turning her eyes 
 fjrom Betty to a sea-gull that was slowly sailing land 
 ward, "that before Lodowick went away he asked me 
 to be his wife. It was very sudden, dear. I hadn t 
 dreamed of his caring for me in that way. I thought 
 that it was some one else. But I love him, Betty. I 
 have loved him ever since I can remember." 
 
 She longed to throw herself into Betty s arms, and tell 
 her the rest ; but, since it had been decided for her that 
 it was wiser to let it remain, for the time, a secret, she 
 felt that she had no right to take even Betty into her 
 confidence. The gull was hovering so near them that 
 she could see the silver lining of the great white wings, 
 and, with her eyes still following it, she waited for Betty 
 to speak. 
 
 But Betty s only answer was a shuddering, sob-like 
 breath. Had not she too loved him always? she was 
 saying to herself. Still, she was obliged to admit that 
 never, by word or look, had he given her any foundation 
 for her castle of hope. Friendly and kind he had al 
 ways been just friendly and kind, and nothing more. 
 How could she have been so blind? And how was she
 
 200 AM ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 to bear it, when life was already so desolate? She won 
 dered why this disappointment had fallen to her, rather 
 than to Margaret. Margaret, she was sure, would not 
 have found it so hard to bear, she was always so light- 
 hearted ; and she was a mere child, too much too 
 young for one of Lodowick s years. 
 
 She had been sitting by Margaret on the sand, but 
 now she stood up and turned her face to the sea. There 
 were no white-fringed billows rolling in ; the ocean was 
 as silent and as blue as the sky that bent above it, and 
 the surfless waves that lapped the shore slipped back 
 into the deep with a scarcely audible whisper. It was 
 a day " as rare as a day in June," such a day as lovers 
 love ; a day when friends, walking side by side, with 
 hearts at one, find silence sweeter than speech. But to 
 Margaret this silence of Betty s was almost unendurable, 
 she had so longed for her sympathy. 
 
 Far out at sea a ship was drifting by so slowly that 
 the movement was scarcely perceptible, and overhead 
 the white gull floated through the amber air like a 
 dream-bird. But, as suddenly as Betty s hope had 
 changed to despair, the golden light on land and sea 
 gave place to a dense fog, and ship and gull were lost 
 in the gray gloom. 
 
 "What a change it is!" said Margaret, starting up 
 and shaking the sand from her skirts. "It hardly 
 seems like the same world." 
 
 Betty shivered. "It is like death, it changes every 
 thing," she said. And when they set out for home she 
 held herself aloof, and took no notice of the grieved look
 
 A HAPPY CONFESSION. 2OI 
 
 on Margaret s face. But she was too sweet and sensi 
 ble to cherish any bitterness. It was not Meg s fault 
 that Lodowick loved her. How could any one help 
 loving her? And presently she slipped her arm through 
 Margaret s. 
 
 "I know you will be happy, Meg, dear," she said, 
 stooping to pick up a great purple-edged clam-shell. 
 " I ll take that home to Dulcie," she added. " I heard 
 her wishing the other day for one to dip soap with." 
 l3ut to herself she was saying that no woman could help 
 being happy whom Lodowick Brewster loved. 
 
 " How beautifully it is tinted ! " Margaret remarked, 
 feeling that the shell was treasure-trove, since it fur 
 nished them something commonplace to talk about. 
 " They make excellent dippers." But in her heart she 
 too was repeating Lodowick s name. 
 
 They had barely passed the sand-dunes when they 
 were met by Ben and Burt. The boys were running 
 full tilt, in a state of more than normal excitement. 
 
 "The king s officers have come," cried Ben; "and 
 they re driving all the cattle they can find up the Island 
 into General Erskine s camp." 
 
 "And that isn t the worst of it," added Burt. " They 
 say that they re going to make everybody take the oath 
 of allegiance." 
 
 "I don t believe they ll trouble us" said Ben, with a 
 shrug. "Mother asked some of em in to dinner, and 
 treated em to the best there was in the house ; and, find 
 ing that she believed in King George, and that grandpa 
 was a Quaker, they were as friendly as you please,
 
 2O2 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 specially after they heard old Poll screech, God save 
 the King ! " 
 
 " Ben, where were Snowball and Lord Lion ? " asked 
 Margaret anxiously. 
 
 " Oh, safe in the stable ! They didn t get a glimpse 
 of either of em ! " 
 
 "And if we don t make haste, we sha n t get another 
 glimpse of the officers," said Burt. " Come on, Ben ! " 
 
 Ben, though two years older than his cousin, was still 
 but a boy ; and, leaving the girls to follow at their own 
 pace, he hurried after Burt. 
 
 " Oh, it is shameful, shameful ! " cried Margaret. 
 " How thankful I am that father and the others es 
 caped in time. Better that they should fall in battle 
 than be compelled to take the oath." 
 
 " Very likely it is only a report the boys have heard," 
 said Betty. "They may have come on some other 
 errand. Look, Meg ! look ! " 
 
 They were just entering the village street, and as she 
 spoke a party of horsemen dashed past them. The girls 
 drew back, but soldiers have keen eyes. 
 
 " Egad ! a Juno and a Hebe ! " cried one, in a voice 
 loud enough to be heard by all the rest. 
 
 " Hold your peace, man ! " commanded an officer, 
 who was riding abreast with him. " Can t you see that 
 they are ladies ? " 
 
 Fortunately, the captain was in something of a hurry ; 
 and those in the rear, though they craned their necks to 
 stare again at the girlish figures, were obliged to follow 
 their leader,
 
 A HAPPY CONFESSION. 203 
 
 "Such insolence!" ejaculated Margaret, under her 
 breath, as the cavalcade passed on. " Thank God, they 
 are gone ! " She had drawn herself to her full height, 
 and her eyes were flaming. 
 
 " Oh, they were dreadfully rude ! " murmured Betty. 
 " But they make a fine show in their red uniforms. Our 
 
 / 
 
 men must look rather dull beside them." 
 
 But Margaret, with her chin up, walked on in silence, 
 nursing her wrath. 
 
 * It had been from first 10 last a trying day ; and before 
 they reached the house Olin Dole met them with the 
 harrowing news that Washington s troops had been 
 forced to retreat from New York City. 
 
 The remainder of the month brought nothing but a 
 continuation of ill tidings. 
 
 "There s been a terrible thing done up at Hunting- 
 ton ! " cried Ben, bursting in one day, with Burt Osgood 
 behind him. "Big Sam has just come from the Harbor, 
 and he brought a letter to Cap n Mulford telling about 
 it. Twas Nathan Hale, the schoolmaster. You know 
 Lod Brewster and he were in college together." And 
 then in broken sentences the young fellow went on with 
 the tragedy. 
 
 "Ben!" Margaret cried, aghast, "you surely don t 
 mean that they sentenced him?" 
 
 "Yes," answered Burt, for Ben had turned his back, 
 and was trying to swallow a lump in his throat; " they 
 tried him as a spy, and the next morning at daybreak 
 he was executed. Eh, but it makes one s blood boil, 
 the way they treated him. But he was clear qrit all the
 
 204 A ^ ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 way through. He told em right to their faces that he 
 was only sorry that he had but one life to lose for his 
 country." 
 
 "Yes," cried Ben, facing about, with his mouth still 
 working ; " and here Burt and I must sit cooped up like 
 two girls, when perhaps we might be helping to take his 
 place. It s a shame, when the country is so in need of 
 men. And to think of having one s name handed down 
 to posterity as a stay-at-home in a time like this ! " 
 
 Margaret made no response to this outburst of patri 
 otism. 
 
 "To die in that way!" she was saying to herself. 
 " And he so brave, so noble ! " 
 
 But Prudence, who had come in while Ben was speak 
 ing his mind, did not hesitate to dash his disloyal ardor. 
 
 "Yes, take his place and share his fate," she scoffed, 
 in a high, harsh key. "The colonies are finding out to 
 their sorrow that it is useless for them to fight against 
 the king. And look at the men who a year or two ago 
 were so bold about declaring themselves in sympathy 
 with the colonies. I knew very well that it would get 
 them into trouble. See what a price they have had to 
 pay for their folly except those who, like Colonel 
 Gardiner, have come to their senses, and decided to stay 
 where they belong." 
 
 "It is only on account of their families, mother, that 
 any of them stay," said Ben stoutly. "They do it be 
 cause they think they must, but they don t enjoy it a bit 
 better than I do." And Ben snatched his hat from its 
 nail, and rushed out-doors to cool down.
 
 A HAPPY CONFESSION. 205 
 
 A little later Priest Buell came in. 
 
 "And there is more sad news," he said, after speak 
 ing of young Hale. " General Nathaniel Woodhull is 
 dead." Even Prudence made an exclamation of genu 
 ine regret, for the brave general was a family friend. 
 
 "Think of two such patriots being snatched from 
 us in a day ! " commented Priest Buell, sorrowfully, 
 when he had given an account of the general s death. 
 "But the Lord reigns." 
 
 k "Ay, and it behooves England to bear it in mind," 
 said the Quaker, following the minister to the door. 
 
 Margaret had listened dry-eyed, the very horror of it 
 all driving back her tears ; but the moment she was alone 
 she threw herself on her knees, and with bitter weeping 
 cried to Heaven to have those she loved saved from a 
 like fate.
 
 206 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 IN THE FIELD. 
 
 IT very soon became known that the errand of the 
 redcoats who had so suddenly invaded the village 
 was chiefly to summon all those who held appointments 
 from the king, whether civil or military, to resume their 
 duties as officers of the crown. It was a demand that 
 met with resolute resistance ; but the king s messengers 
 were equally resolute in regard to enforcing it, and, 
 finding that resistance was not likely to be of any use, 
 some who had hoped to remain unmolested in their 
 homes made haste to follow their friends into exile. 
 
 "Those of us who hold no appointment from His 
 Majesty may consider ourselves fortunate," said Ezekiel 
 Mulford. 
 
 But one bright October day the king s officers again 
 came riding down the Island in their gay uniforms ; and 
 on this occasion it proved to be for the purpose of com 
 pelling every man who had declared himself in sympa 
 thy with the colonies in their struggle for freedom to 
 sign a counter-declaration. They found, however, that 
 in this they had undertaken a task even more difficult 
 than the first ; for the people withstood them with the 
 courage born of desperation. But there were some who
 
 IN THE FIELD. 2O/ 
 
 saw in the taking of the counter-pledge the only chance 
 of safety for their homes and families ; and because 
 those that the homes sheltered were dearer to them than 
 their lives, dearer even than their ideal of honor, they 
 yielded at last, but in bitterness of soul, and in more 
 than one case at the point of the bayonet. 
 
 "If they go to trying that game on me, they ll find it 
 takes two to play it," threatened Ike Bennet, one of the 
 few able-bodied men who had seen fit to remain. 
 
 "It is a sore strait to be placed in," said Deacon 
 David Hedges. The deacon lived at Sagabonack ; and 
 early in the exodus he had started, with several others, 
 for the Harbor, intending to seek refuge in Connecticut ; 
 but, halting on the top of the hill at the north end of the 
 village, for a farewell look, he was overcome with the 
 thought of leaving the old home, and turning his ox 
 cart round, went back to take his chances with those 
 who had remained. 
 
 Priest Buell, meanwhile, in correspondence with Gen 
 eral Tryon, had been using vigorous efforts to have 
 the terms of the oath modified ; but the tyrant, though 
 he had formerly been on very friendly terms with the 
 minister, refused to make any concessions, and the 
 officers who had the matter in charge had come deter 
 mined to carry out instructions to the letter. 
 
 Before they had fully succeeded, however, in sub 
 duing these sturdy patriots, they were called elsewhere ; 
 and the East End, for the time, was left to itself, aban 
 doned alike by friend and foe. 
 
 But, happily, no one had any time to spend in brood-
 
 208 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 ing. There were great "patches" of potatoes to be 
 dug, and acres on acres of corn to be harvested, while, 
 gleaming among the rustling stalks like crocks of gold, 
 lay the pumpkins, waiting to be gathered. 
 
 " Looks as if a good share of it d have to go to 
 waste," said Olin Dole, whose club-foot debarred him 
 from serving his country in the ranks, and who, having 
 no fields of his own, held himself at the beck and call 
 of any neighbor who might need his help. "What 
 there are of us 11 have to buckle down to it in dead 
 earnest ; but there ain t men enough left on the hul East 
 End to git the tenth part of it in." 
 
 His remarks were addressed to Ben Thurston, who, 
 with a hoe on his shoulder, was about starting out to 
 dig potatoes ; but it was Margaret that answered him. 
 
 "We women expect to take the places of the men 
 that have gone to war, Olin. Before Ben and Timothy 
 have a dozen hills dug, Ilagar and I ll be on hand to do 
 the picking up." She had thrown back the upper half 
 of the door to speak to Ben ; and framed in the case 
 ment, with the wind roughening the gold-brown rings 
 about the eager young face, she made a picture that 
 even Olin s melancholy eyes found pleasant. 
 
 " You ! " he cried, glancing from the girlish figure to 
 the slender hands that rested on the ledge. " Puttv 
 fist you ll make at it. You ll give out fore you git to 
 the end o the firs row." 
 
 "Oh! don t discourage em, Olin," growled Ben. 
 " Somebody s got to help, if we re going to get things 
 harvested before cold weather sets in."
 
 IN THE FIELD. 209 
 
 " No, we don t want to hear any croaking, Olin," 
 said Margaret, smilingly. " We may give out occa 
 sionally, but we don t mean to give up not till the 
 war is over and our soldiers come " The sentence 
 ended in a quick-drawn sigh, for who could tell? "O 
 God in heaven, help us ! " she prayed, beneath her 
 breath. 
 
 " Comin , Miss Marge? " called Hagar. And hastily 
 closing the door, the girl caught up her sunbonnet and 
 basket, and joined Hagar and Rick. 
 
 They had hardly finished the first row when Grand 
 father Thurston came plodding across the field. He 
 was clad in an old tow suit, and a basket on his arm 
 told that he had come with a purpose. 
 
 " O grandpa," protested Margaret, " please don t try 
 to do it ! It will break your back." 
 
 " Tut, tut, little one ! Dost thou think I am good for 
 naught but to sit dozing like a cat in the sun?" And 
 with that he fell to work with a will, and easily kept 
 abreast with the others.
 
 210 AH ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 A PRICELESS KISS. 
 
 TT7EEK after week, until all the crops were har- 
 V V vested, both old and young bent to their unac 
 customed tasks. And they did not confine themselves 
 either, by any means, to their own fields, but gave 
 whatever help they could in harvesting those of their 
 neighbors. It was the same throughout all the East 
 End ; yet so quietly and systematically was the work 
 accomplished, that an unenlightened spectator would 
 hardly have guessed that these brave toilers were in 
 constant fear of being interrupted by the enemy. 
 
 But autumn slipped into winter, and the enemy showed 
 no signs of disturbing them. 
 
 " If they could see the piles o corn we ve got ready 
 for huskin , they d pounce down on it like a hawk on a 
 chicken," said Olin ; "an the sooner we git it out o 
 sight the better." 
 
 "Eh, but it ll be a job," groaned Ben Thurston. 
 " It ll take all winter for Timothy and me to get ours 
 done." 
 
 "Thou canst count me in, Benjamin," said his grand 
 father. 
 
 "And me," chimed Madge, "and Cousin Betty and
 
 A PRICELESS KISS. 211 
 
 Debby Brewster and Dell Fithian and the Mulford 
 girls. They say that in East Haddam thirty of the 
 ladies met one day, and husked two hundred and fifty 
 bushels ; and we girls are going to follow their example. 
 We re to meet from house to house every afternoon and 
 evening till all the corn is husked. They are coming 
 here to-morrow." 
 
 "Good!" shouted Ben. "There ll be some fun in 
 that. Tell you what, Olin, you and I ll keep a sharp 
 k>okout for red ears." 
 
 "Thou canst count me in on that, too, Benjamin," 
 said his grandfather, his eyes twinkling. "Thou needst 
 not think that thou and Olin are to be the only kiss- 
 winners." 
 
 But there seemed to be a scarcity of red ears that win 
 ter ; and of these Grandfather Thurston, the other boys 
 declared, got more than his share. 
 
 "Besides," protested Ben, "he always wastes his 
 chance on Meg ; he can kiss her every day in the 
 week." 
 
 "Ah, I like this," said Priest Buell, dropping in one 
 day when the huskers were working as if on a wager ; 
 "usefulness is life." And then he fell to husking as 
 hard as any of them. 
 
 They met one afternoon at Mother Miller s. 
 
 "My old hands are good for something yet, if they 
 are a little stiff," said the gray-haired hostess. "I ve 
 just finished the twentieth pair of socks to send to Gen 
 eral Washington : and I hope to have a dozen more done 
 before spring, for they say the soldiers are almost bare-
 
 212 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 foot. In fact, from all accounts, they arc about out of 
 everything in the way of clothing. No wonder they re 
 talking of disbanding. But I guess the general "11 be 
 
 o o o o 
 
 able to hold em together. Zek el Mulford says they 
 come as near to worshipping him as they very well can, 
 without breaking the first commandment." 
 
 "I should think they might," said Miss Mehitable 
 Hand; "they say he s like a father to them. There 
 isn t another man in the world that I so long to see. 
 
 "I m ahead of you there, Mehitable," said Mother 
 Miller, stopping her husking to take a pinch of home 
 made snuff. " Twas in let me see, must have been 
 about v7. Anyway, it was something like twenty years 
 
 +J t <J *l * c 7 */*- 
 
 ago. I was in Sterling (Greenport) visiting Aunt Betsy 
 Brown ; and one day I happened to run into Booth s tav 
 ern to see Mary Havens, who was over from Hog Neck, 
 staying with the Booth girls, you know she married 
 Nathan el Tuthill of Oysterponds, and while I was 
 there who should walk in but Colonel George Washing 
 ton, on his way to Boston. 1 lie couldn t have been 
 more than twenty-five or six ; but everybody was talking 
 about his being such a hero in the French and Indian 
 War, and we all thought ourselves mighty lucky to get 
 even a look at him. But we were favored far beyond 
 that, for he was there nearly three hours. Mary 
 Youngs, I remember, was there too ; and lie was as po 
 lite to all of us as if we d been duchesses. He was a 
 tall man, straight and comely, and as dignified as a par 
 son. But, la ! you couldn t feel any more afraid of him 
 
 1 This incident is true in every particular.
 
 A PRICELESS KISS. 21 3 
 
 than if he d been your brother, he was so mild-mannered 
 and pleasant-spoken. Somehow he made us feel as if 
 he d known us all his life ; and, when his man came to 
 tell him that his boat was ready to start, he took each of 
 us by the hand, and, saluting us with a kiss, asked us 
 to let our prayers go with him. I can tell you it took 
 
 JT / O *J 
 
 our breath away, it was so unexpected ; but his manner 
 was so gentle and respectful that it made it seem like a 
 benediction. Mary Havens used to say " 
 
 "O Mother Miller!" cried Deborah Brewster, drop 
 ping the ear she was husking, and throwing her arms 
 about the old lady, "please show us which side it 
 was." 
 
 Mrs. Miller laid a wrinkled finger on her left cheek, 
 in a little hollow that looked as if it might once have 
 been a dimple. 
 
 " It was that one, child ; and you can kiss it and wel 
 come. If ever I should meet him again I d remind him 
 of it, if I could get up courage enough, and claim one 
 for t other side." 
 
 "You didn t finish telling us what Mary Havens used 
 to say," Del Fithian reminded her. 
 
 " Oh ! she always declared that she was never going 
 to let any human being kiss the cheek that Washington 
 had so honored. But probably Nathan el persuaded her 
 to change her mind." 
 
 "Well, I shouldn t have blamed her if she d held to 
 it," said Miss Mehitable. "A kiss like that was some 
 thing to be proud of all one s life. And I m glad to 
 know that he s so human. Someway I d taken the idea
 
 214. A ^ ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 that he was almost too precise and dignified to kiss even 
 his wife." 
 
 "That s because you ve never seen him, Mehitable. 
 He had the kindest face I ever saw for a man. Yet it 
 was a strong face too ; and I don t know as I ever saw 
 a handsomer looking man, unless it \vas young Stephen 
 Sayre. But it wasn t so much his handsomeness you 
 thought of, as the good and noble look he had." 
 
 " What surprises me the most of anything," said Amy 
 Mulford, "is his having the courage to do it; I ve 
 always heard that he s such a bashful man." 
 
 "Oh! I dare say, my dear, it was the fashion down 
 where he came from," answered Mother Miller. 
 
 " Eh, look ! " cried Ben Thurston, " gran dad s found 
 another red ear." 
 
 Dell Fithian sat on one side of the old man, and Deb 
 orah Brewster on the other ; but, instead of taking his 
 reward from either of the rosy cheeks so close at hand, 
 he crossed the room, and laid the red ear in Mother 
 Miller s lap. 
 
 "To dare to claim my guerdon from the cheek that 
 Washington has kissed," he said gravely, but with a 
 crinkle at the corners of his mouth, "would savor of 
 presumption ; but with thy leave, Friend Phebe, I will 
 do mvself the honor to salute the other side." And 
 
 J 
 
 he gallantly touched his lips to Mother Miller s right 
 cheek. 
 
 " Grandpa s in luck," whispered Ben to Olin Dole. 
 "But if I d been in his place, I don t believe I d have 
 taken the trouble to go way across the room."
 
 A PRICELESS KISS. 21$ 
 
 Olin, too, was feeling a little envious ; for, though he 
 had husked diligently, he had found no prizes. 
 
 " Yes," he said dejectedly, turning back the covering 
 from another disappointing ear, " he s lucky, but he s 
 sensible too. He kin kiss a pretty girl most any day, 
 but tain t often one gits a chance to kiss anybody Gena l 
 Washin ton s kissed." 
 
 " Speaking of Stephen Sayre," 1 remarked Miss Me- 
 hitable, " they say he s been appointed high sheriff of 
 Ivonclon. Just think of it, little Stephen Sayre ! Why, 
 I ve trotted him on my knee many a time when he was 
 toddling round in pinafores. I used to be visiting the 
 Howells at Southampton a good deal in those days, and 
 Stevie was quite a pet with them. I believe he was 
 related to them in some way ; and the last time I was 
 there, Joanna was showing me a picture of him painted 
 on ivory, and it almost looked as if it could speak, it 
 was so lifelike. 2 She says he has married a lady of 
 rank, and is a great favorite in London society. I don t 
 wonder at it, either ; for he was handsome as a prince 
 and such manners ! " 
 
 "Well, I can t say s I think much of Americans that 
 go hobnobbin with the English in sech times as these," 
 said Olin. " Might better be home here rlghtin for their 
 country." 
 
 " Oh, don t you worry about Stephen," retorted Miss 
 Hitty. " He s all right. Joanna ays he s the stanchest 
 sort of a Whig, and he doesn t mince matters in telling 
 
 1 Stephen Sayre was a native of Quoge, Long Island. 
 
 2 This miniature is still in the Howell family.
 
 2l6 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 the English what he thinks of their treatment of the 
 colonies." 
 
 " Hi ! See that, will you ! " cried Ben, holding up an 
 ear, every grain of which was as red as a ruby. And 
 while the rest of the company looked on with smiling 
 appreciation, he proudly presented it to Debby Brewster. 
 
 "I declare," said Mother Miller, "it does one good 
 to see the young folks enjoying themselves. It makes 
 it almost seem as if there wasn t any such thing as war." 
 
 But before the husking was over Captain Mulford 
 came in. He looked pale and troubled. 
 
 "The British have captured Fort Washington," he 
 said, aside, to his daughter; " and more than two thou 
 sand of our men taken with it were marched off to New 
 York at midnight to be thrust into prison." 
 
 He spoke in an undertone, but the room had suddenly 
 become so still that every one caught the import of his 
 words ; and the little company broke up with newly bur 
 dened hearts, not knowing who of their friends might 
 have been in Fort Washington at the time.
 
 A WELCOME GUEST. 2I/ 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 A WELCOME GUEST. 
 
 all that dreary winter, at wheel and loom, 
 - JL the women wrought with steadfast heroism, spin 
 ning joyless imaginings the while, and weaving in tears 
 and prayers with warp and woof. 
 
 And not the least part of their daily martyrdom was 
 their sense of utter isolation ; for the British had closed 
 the post-offices the entire length of the Island, and it 
 was only by private hand that letters could be brought 
 or sent. 
 
 One day, in the latter part of February, a peddler 
 called at the Thurston s. He carried, in addition to a 
 few ribbons and handkerchiefs, the usual assortment of 
 thread, tape, and needles ; and Prudence, glad of a 
 chance to replenish her work-basket, gave him a cordial 
 welcome. 
 
 Margaret, too, was eager to inspect his stock. 
 
 " Here, grandpa, here is just what you want in the 
 way of handkerchiefs, she said, as she knelt by the 
 open pack. " See how fine and soft they are ! " 
 
 "Nay, little one, thou wouldst lead me into extrava 
 gance. In times like these there is no money to spare 
 for such luxuries as silk handkerchiefs." And the old
 
 2l8 AH ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 man turned away, and addressed himself to the peddler. 
 " Where dost thou hail from, friend? " 
 
 Prudence was just then called from the room ; and the 
 peddler, pushing back a mass of black hair from his 
 forehead, bent and kissed Margaret. 
 
 " Father ! " cried the girl, in a smothered whisper. 
 
 "What, Aaron, is it thou?" asked the old Quaker, 
 grasping the peddler by the hand. 
 
 " Sh sh, father! Since Prudence does not recog 
 nize me, it is not necessary to tell her who I am. John 
 and I are with General Wooster, but Lodowick has been 
 all winter with Washington in the Jerseys. And some 
 grand work has been done there, as doubtless you have 
 heard. The British are learning to their cost how 
 Americans can fight. But our men are suffering terri 
 bly for lack of proper food and clothing. There is 
 scarcely a regiment that is not in rags ; and their feet are 
 so poorly protected that the enemy has more than once 
 tracked them by the blood-stained prints in the snow. 
 By the way, daughter, here s something Lodowick man 
 aged to send me by one of our scouts." 
 
 It was only a hurried scrawl, entreating help for the 
 soldiers in the way of clothing ; but it told that he was 
 alive, and Margaret read it greedily. 
 
 "And now," said her father, " if you have been knit 
 ting any socks, or if there are any to be had in the neigh 
 borhood, get them together as quickly as possible, and 
 I ll secrete them in my pack." 
 
 And Margaret, with a lighter heart than she had 
 known for many a day, set off to canvass the village.
 
 " FATHER! CRIED MARGARET ix A SMOTHERED WHISPER.
 
 A WELCOME GUEST. 2 19 
 
 At the gate she met Ben. 
 
 " He is a Whig, Ben; and he is going to take all the 
 socks we can collect, the soldiers are so in need of them," 
 she made haste to explain to reveal the peddler s iden 
 tity at present would hardly be prudent. 
 
 " Good!" ejaculated Ben, hurrying away to call at 
 the Brewsters and Mrs. Miller s, while Margaret was 
 collecting in the opposite direction. 
 
 Meanwhile, the peddler had \von favor with Mistress 
 Prudence by throwing off twopence a yard on a piece 
 of ribbon that had taken her eye ; and when the old 
 Quaker asked him to stay to dinner, she seconded the 
 invitation, and went herself to lay a plate for him, and 
 see that an extra round of ham was cooked. 
 
 The appetizing odor of the ham saluted Margaret as 
 she came back from her errand, and reminded her that 
 it was dinner-time. She had but reached the door when 
 she espied Ben coming, with both arms loaded, and she 
 hurried him into the entry. 
 
 "Only think of it, Ben! over a hundred, and all 
 bran new," she exclaimed, making a hasty count. But 
 Ben had disappeared. 
 
 "Thou canst add these, Margaret," said her grand 
 father, handing her in passing three or four pairs of 
 white lamb s wool that she herself had knitted for him; 
 "but be quick, for Prudence is calling thee." 
 
 "And here, take these," whispered Ben, hurrying 
 back with a contribution from his own wardrobe. 
 
 " Ben ! what will Aunt Prudence say ? " cried the girl. 
 " How many have you left for yourself? "
 
 220 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Enough to last till you or mother can knit me some 
 more." 
 
 " But how many?" insisted Madge. 
 
 " Oh ! one pair and an odd one to change with, if you 
 must know," blurted Ben, thrusting out his chin. 
 
 " Ben, you re a patriot ! " 
 
 " Yo chilens better come to dinner," Hagar advised 
 in a stage whisper, opening the door on a crack. " Mis 
 Prudens, she m a frettin bout yo ." 
 
 Madge, who had hastily covered the socks with her 
 shawl, put up her hands to smooth her hair; and Ben, in 
 exaggerated imitation, sleeked down his thick red locks 
 as he followed her out. 
 
 "Is it not hazardous, friend, for thee to be crossing 
 the Island at a time like this ? " their grandfather was 
 inquiring, as they took their seats. "We hear that the 
 British ships are in the Sound." 
 
 "Ay, that they are, between twenty and thirty sail; 
 and any craft that doesn t show King George s colors 
 will do well to keep out of their way." 
 
 " The English know their friends," remarked Pru 
 dence, with a complacent smile, as she replenished his 
 plate ; " and a blessed thing it is for those of us who live 
 in this forsaken corner of the world, that one of your 
 calling occasionally finds his way to us. Such folly for 
 the colonies to prate about being independent, when we 
 must look to England for every pin we use." 
 
 "Be patient, Prudence! 7 said her father-in-law. 
 " The time is coming when we shall not have to look 
 to England for either pins or needles, nor for any other
 
 A WELCOME GUEST. 221 
 
 common commodity. What is manufactured to-day in 
 England will eventually be manufactured in the colo 
 nies." 
 
 "And when that comes to pass the poor peddler will 
 have to find some other way to earn his bread," lamented 
 the guest. 
 
 "There s little call to borrow trouble on that score," 
 answered Prudence, loftily. "You will be able to empty 
 your pack a good many times before that day comes, I m 
 Blinking." 
 
 Fortunately, when they rose from the table, Prudence 
 tarried behind. 
 
 "Ah, that ll help to ease many a poor fellow s sole," 
 said the old soldier, grimly, on seeing the pile of socks. 
 "And when I have delivered these, I expect to go 
 to Danbury for a supply of shirts and blouses. The 
 \vomen all over the country, God bless em ! are sewing 
 and knitting for us." 
 
 While he was speaking, Margaret, with nervous haste, 
 helped him put the socks out of sight ; and, by the time 
 Prudence joined the family in the keeping-room, the 
 peddler had shouldered his pack, and started for the gate. 
 
 "It must be weary work tramping about the country 
 with that on one s back," said the girl, watching him 
 from the window. 
 
 " S pose I hitch up and give him a lift!" suggested 
 Ben eagerly. 
 
 "Doubtless he would be duly grateful that is, if 
 Prudence is willing thou shouldst do it," said the old 
 Quaker, with discreet deference.
 
 222 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Why, yes, go, if you want to," Prudence answered, 
 stepping to the window. " It will do no harm to show 
 him a kindness ; and tell him not to forget the lavender 
 silk he promised to bring me to match that ribbon, the 
 next time he comes." 
 
 The peddler had reached the street, but Ben s shout 
 brought him back ; and, having put his pack in the 
 wagon, he fell to helping the boy harness. 
 
 "Seems to understand gearing a horse," remarked 
 Prudence, who, with her apron over her head, had gone 
 to the side door to admonish Ben to be back before dark. 
 
 But the candles had been lighted for an hour when 
 the rumble of the wagon was heard,, together with old 
 Vic s neigh. 
 
 "Ah, there s Benjamin ! " cried his grandfather, with 
 an eagerness that showed how impatiently he had 
 watched for him. But the next moment Timothy threw 
 open the door. 
 
 " De hos an wagon s kim, but Mars Benj. ain t in 
 it," he announced, with white-rimmed eyes. " Whar 
 yo s pose he am ? " 
 
 But he had propounded a riddle that no one was ready 
 to answer. Old Vic w r ould never have run away from 
 his master ; and that Ben had turned the horse loose and 
 shipped for Connecticut, seemed equally unbelievable. 
 But Prudence regarded the latter supposition as the true 
 solution of the problem, and hardened her heart against 
 him. She would never own him for her son, she de 
 clared, if he went over to the rebels. And when, one 
 April morning, the young fellow walked in, looking as
 
 A WELCOME GUEST. . 22$ 
 
 if he had been shamefully entreated, she resolutely held 
 herself aloof until he could give an account of himself. 
 
 " Oh ! come, mother," he protested, losing no time in 
 taking his place at the breakfast-table, "don t be so 
 hard on a fellow. It wasn t my fault. I d left the ped 
 dler at the Harbor, and had just come to Whooping 
 Boy s Hollow on my way back, that day, when a party 
 of mounted redcoats dashed up ; and, finding that I 
 wasn t a Tory, they took me prisoner. If Vic had been 
 ft few years younger, they d probably have taken him, 
 too, but they seemed to be in a tremendous hurry ; and, 
 happening to have a spare horse, they put me on him, 
 and marched me off, leaving Vic to take care of him 
 self. We lodged that night in Southold ; and the next 
 morning I was sent, with a lot of other prisoners, to Ja 
 maica, and billeted at a farmhouse. The farmer was 
 a Tory, and acted the watch-dog for them, keeping so 
 close an eye on us that we hardly dared to wink ; but a 
 beastly Hessian, one of the under officers, took a fancy 
 to have me for his groom ; and one night last week, when 
 he sent me to bed his horse, I let myself down from the 
 window at the back of the barn, and, by keeping under 
 cover of the fences and out-buildings, made my way to 
 the- woods. I don t know whether I d have dared to try 
 it if it hadn t been for hearing that we were to be 
 sent to New York the next day, to be put in some of 
 their underground dungeons ; from what I d heard of 
 those places, I thought I d rather take the risk of being 
 shot in my tracks. I walked all night, keeping as far 
 as possible from the main road, and hid in the bushes
 
 224 A N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 during the day. I intended to come direct to South 
 ampton ; but I must have got a little turned about, for 
 this morning, at daybreak, I found myself at Riverhead. 
 Luckily, I was just in time to catch Cap n Foster, who 
 was on the point of weighing anchor to start for the 
 Harbor. So here I am. The cap n had come from 
 Connecticut the night before." 
 
 " Well, what of that? " said his mother ; for Ben had 
 stopped short, and was giving all his attention to the hot 
 cakes with which Prudence had piled his plate. 
 
 "He brought bad news," answered Ben slowly. 
 " He said that word had just reached New London that 
 old Tryon s men " 
 
 " Do you mean His Excellency the Governor, Benja 
 min?" asked Prudence, sharply. 
 
 "Well, governor or general, whichever you like, 
 mother I don t know as it makes any difference what 
 you call him but the cap n says that he and his men 
 had made an attack on Danbury. Say, Madge, get a 
 fellow a drink, won t you? I m dry as a flounder. " 
 
 But Madge had started up with a blanched face. 
 
 "Ben!" she cried, wringing her hands, "what if 
 father chanced to be there ! " 
 
 "Oh, now don t go to borrowing trouble," said Ben, 
 trying to speak carelessly. "More likely he s in the 
 Jerseys before this." 
 
 " Your breakfast will be stone cold if you don t stop 
 talking and go to eating," said his mother, turning to 
 leave the room ; and, with a stifled sob, Madge caught 
 up the water-pitcher and hurried after her.
 
 A WELCOME GUEST. 22$ 
 
 " Cap n Foster says," Ben went on, finding himself 
 alone with his grandfather, "that Tryon burned the 
 place to the ground, and that it was the crudest night s 
 work that s been done since the war began. General 
 Arnold and General Wooster hurried from New Haven 
 to the rescue ; and before the fight ended Arnold had 
 two horses shot under him, and General Wooster he 
 was killed. Maybe we d better not tell Meg that, for 
 fear it ll make her the more anxious about her father 
 *ind Uncle John." 
 
 "Benjamin, art thou keeping anything back?" 
 "No, grandpa, that s all. Cap n Foster seemed to 
 think that there were not many killed on either side, but 
 twas bad enough having to lose General Wooster. Our 
 folks, though, made it so hot for the British that they 
 were glad to get back to their ships ; and I guess, if 
 anything had happened to anybody we know, we d have 
 heard of it by this time. Anyhow, I wouldn t worry, 
 gran dad," he added, under his breath, as Meg came in 
 with the pitcher.
 
 226 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 A WANDERING RUMOR. 
 
 TO the horror caused by the news concerning Dan- 
 bury, there was added an intense anxiety, tor not 
 a few of the East End soldiers were in Wooster s army. 
 
 "But worrying won t help matters," philosophized 
 Ben, whose kindly forethought had not kept Madge 
 from hearing of the general s death. 
 
 " But how can we help worrying, knowing that 
 father was expecting to be there? " protested Margaret. 
 And when a week went by without bringing any further 
 tidings, she entreated him to go to the Harbor. 
 
 " Perhaps the Colemans may have heard something," 
 she urged. But Ben showed no eagerness for the errand. 
 
 "They say they ve begun laying in military supplies 
 down at the wharf, and are going to put in a garrison," 
 he objected; "and if you d been a prisoner once, you 
 wouldn t want to run any risk of being captured a sec 
 ond time." 
 
 " No, indeed," cried Margaret. " I shouldn t want 
 you to go at all if I thought there was any danger of 
 that sort; but Big Sam was at the Harbor yesterday, and 
 he says that there were no redcoats to be seen in the 
 neighborhood."
 
 A WANDERING RUMOR. 22/ 
 
 Oh, well, in that case I ll venture it," said Ben, " if 
 it will be any comfort to you." 
 
 "In that case," said his grandfather, "I think we 
 may all venture it. I want to see Friend Coleman, and 
 perhaps Margaret would like to see Lucinda." 
 
 " Indeed I should," said the girl, starting up from her 
 wheel. "But if thou rt willing, I ll ride Lord Lion." 
 
 " There is no thouing necessary to get my consent 
 to that, little one. It will give Lion an airing, and make 
 a lighter load for Vic." 
 
 "Ay, Meg, that s the wisest thing you can do," ad 
 vised Ben. " I doubt the enemy s having any horses 
 that could outdistance Lion." But, before he had fin 
 ished giving his opinion, Margaret was half-way up the 
 stairs. 
 
 When she came down equipped for riding, her aunt 
 was standing in the entry. 
 
 "Where now?" inquired the rasping voice. "A 
 pretty time o day this to start off pleasuring. When 
 would the flax and wool be ready for weaving, pray 
 tell, if I were always gadding?" 
 
 " But grandpa wants me to go, Aunt Prudence," said 
 Madge, as she drew on her home-made gauntlets ; " and 
 Lion needs the exercise, he has been so long in the 
 stable." 
 
 "And what is to hinder Benjamin from exercising 
 him? or Timothy, as for that?" 
 
 " Nothing, Aunt Prudence, but the fact that His 
 Lordship objects to having any one but myself and little 
 Rick mount him."
 
 228 /IN ISL/tND HEROINE. 
 
 " Yes, because he, too, has always had his own way," 
 retorted Prudence; "and so you must waste your time 
 riding him round the country." 
 
 " The time will not be wasted, Prudence," said the 
 old Quaker, catching only the end of the tirade. " Mar 
 garet needs the outing no less than Lion, and the wheel 
 will go all the faster for it to-morrow." 
 
 At the hitching-post, Lord Lion, saddled and bridled, 
 was pawing the turf, while Rick, with his hands behind 
 him, stood looking at him with admiring eyes. 
 
 " Yo s bes be kereful, my dirl," he advised sagely. 
 " Ma m Hagar say he m drefful bunktious dis mo nin ." 
 
 "Ay, Meg, you ll have to hold him with a tight 
 rein," cried Ben, springing from the wagon to untie the 
 halter. 
 
 " Oh, he ll be all right as soon as he has had a good 
 run. Steady, Lion, steady," she said, as she put her 
 foot in Ben s hand. " And when we come back, Rick 
 shall have a ride," she added, smiling down at her 
 dusky little lover. 
 
 Rick s round eyes danced. 
 
 " Den yo bes ? huhwy up, my dirl," called the plain 
 tive little voice, as Lion pranced off beside the wagon. 
 
 Old Vic turned his head with an affectionate whinny, 
 but Lord Lion s impatient feet refused to keep pace 
 with the measured jog of his venerable comrade ; and 
 Madge, thrilling with that keen sense of freedom that 
 comes to one who is at home on horseback, had no wish 
 to curb him. At intervals, however, when she found 
 that she was putting too wide a distance between herself
 
 A WANDERING RUMOR. 229 
 
 and the wagon, she would canter back, not at all sorry 
 to lengthen the ride, the day was so fair. 
 
 The road lay through the woods, which were starry 
 with dogwood blooms ; and the air was full of woodsy 
 odors, fine and evanescent. 
 
 " Oh, the sweet, glad world!" cried the girl, in an 
 ecstasy. Then, like a black cloud across the sun, came 
 the remembrance of Danbury, and the uncertainty as to 
 the fate of her father and uncle. 
 
 " O Lion, faster ! faster ! " she cried. Old Vic might 
 come at his own pace ; she determined not to do any 
 more loitering. 
 
 She had nearly reached the village, and was begin 
 ning to catch through the thinning trees the sparkle of 
 the bay, when a bend in the road brought her face to 
 face with a man on horseback. Both were riding at 
 such speed that they came near passing each other with 
 out recognition. 
 
 "O Mr. L Hommedieu ! " exclaimed the girl, rein 
 ing Lion in with a suddenness that threw him on his 
 haunches. 
 
 " What, you, little Margaret ! and alone? " cried Mr. 
 L Hommedieu. 
 
 " No, not alone. Grandpa and Ben are on the road, 
 but I was too impatient to wait for them. We have 
 come in hopes of tidings. Has anything more been 
 heard from Wooster s men? We cannot help feeling 
 anxious about our friends." 
 
 " Oh, they are all right ! " he said, confidently. " Bad 
 news is a swift traveller. Word would surely have
 
 230 AN ISLAND HHROINE. 
 
 reached you had any evil befallen them. And now 
 you must turn back. It is not safe to go any farther. 
 The British are landing a large force at the Harbor. 
 An armed schooner and a dozen brigs and sloops are at 
 the wharf. What they purpose doing, God knows ; but 
 we thought the Hamptons ought to be warned, and it 
 will be well, perhaps, to hasten." 
 
 At that, Margaret, turning, gave Lion the rein, and 
 both horses broke into a gallop. But they galloped a 
 good two miles before they met the wagon. 
 
 "Nevertheless," said the old Quaker, when he had 
 heard the news, " I think I will drive on. The king s 
 soldiers doubtless have too much else to do just now to 
 take note of an old man like myself, and I have a mes 
 sage to deliver to Friend Coleman. It may be wiser, 
 though, for Ben to face about." 
 
 But Ben stoutly refused to let him go on without him. 
 
 "Then, with your leave, Friend Thurston, I will do 
 myself the pleasure of escorting this little lady home," 
 said the young man, bringing up his horse beside Lord 
 Lion again. 
 
 "Oh, thank you, Mr. L Hommedieu, but that is not 
 necessary," Margaret interposed. " I am not at all 
 afraid going this way," she added, with a smile. 
 "And I will see that the people are warned at once." 
 
 But Mr. L Hommedieu said that he had business with 
 Captain Dayton. 
 
 "And though I am in haste," he admitted, "if your 
 colt can make as good time the remainder of the way as 
 he has made thus far, it will be no hinderance."
 
 A WANDERING RUMOR. 231 
 
 "Try him," challenged Madge. And Lion, as if 
 comprehending what was expected of him, started off at 
 a bound. It was in vain that Mr. L Hommedieu plied 
 the spurs. His horse, though a good traveller, was no 
 match for Lion in speed ; and it was not till Margaret 
 came to a halt at the end of another two miles that he 
 succeeded in overtaking her. 
 
 " Well, well, that was something of a race ! " he com 
 mented, as he wiped his forehead. " It will not be wise 
 *for you to let any of the redcoats know that you own 
 such a thoroughbred." 
 
 "But surely they would not rob a girl!" said Mar 
 garet, her brown eyes wide with apprehension. 
 
 " I am not so certain of that," replied Mr. L Hom 
 medieu, realizing for the first time that " little Mar 
 garet " was no longer a child. "And a fairer woman 
 it would be hard to find," he said to himself, "unless 
 it were my Sarah." 
 
 "They are a lawless set," he went on aloud, "the 
 under officers and their men ; mere hired mercenaries, 
 fighting not for love of king or country, but for wages, 
 and because they have an inborn liking for tyranny and 
 bloodshed. God help those that fall into their hands ! 
 It is said that some of our own men, who were out on a 
 skirmishing expedition in the Jerseys a short time ago, 
 were taken prisoners, and it is feared that our friend 
 Brewster was one of them." 
 
 " What, Lodowick? Lodowick Brewster, Mr. L Hom 
 medieu?" gasped the girl, with a face as white as the 
 dogwood blossoms.
 
 232 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Oh, it is only a rumor, child," he said, quickly, 
 startled by her loss of color. "There s small depen 
 dence to be put on stories of that sort in these days. 
 Very likely there is no foundation for it whatever. But, 
 even if it were true, better by far a prisoner than to be 
 among the slain ; for, remember, there is no prison door 
 of which the Lord s angel does not hold the key." 
 
 The girl did not answer. Her faith was not quite 
 equal to the sudden demand. 
 
 "Come, Lion, we are lagging," she said, presently, 
 her nerves in too tense a state to endure the leisurely 
 pace into which the animals had fallen. 
 
 So Mr. L Hommedieu spurred his horse again, and it 
 was not long before they were cantering down the vil 
 lage street. 
 
 As they were passing Huntting s Inn they caught sight 
 of Captain Dayton, and the latter at once hailed Mr. 
 L Hommedieu. 
 
 "Never mind me," begged Margaret, seeing that he 
 hesitated; "I am so near home." 
 
 "I am sorry to appear ungallant," he said, lifting his 
 hat, "but time presses. And don t be over-anxious, 
 child," he exhorted gently; "it will be time enough to 
 grieve when rumor becomes a certainty." 
 
 "Ah, but Lodowick is a man worth grieving for," he 
 said to himself as he watched her ride away, "even by 
 one like Margaret God help her ! " And it was not 
 until Captain Dayton shouted to him the second time 
 that he remembered to replace his hat.
 
 A DISCOVERY. 233 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 A DISCOVERY. 
 
 THE first object Margaret saw as she approached the 
 gate was Rick. 
 
 " I s a-waitin fo yo , my did," he called; and at sight 
 of him she remembered her promise. Danbury was in 
 ashes, the British were landing at the Harbor, and Lodo- 
 wick was perhaps a prisoner ; but Rick must not be de 
 frauded of his ride. His mother just then came out 
 with the chip-basket. 
 
 " Toss him up, Hagar," said the girl, making a place 
 for him in front of her. 
 
 "Laws, Miss Marge! wha fo yo want o bodder 
 bout dat chile? " protested Hagar. " Yo s lookin clean 
 tuckered out now. Go long, yo young grasshopper, 
 an le Miss Marge come eat some dinner." 
 
 " She done pwomised me, my dirl did," urged Rick, 
 his mouth beginning to droop. 
 
 " So I did, Rick, and you shall not be disappointed. 
 Up with him, Hagar." 
 
 " Sho now!" Hagar remonstrated again; but Rick 
 was her idol, and she ducked her head and buried her 
 lips in his velvety cheek before setting him astride the 
 saddle.
 
 234 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "Now then, Lion, slow and sure," said Margaret; 
 and Lion obediently took a decorous pace. 
 
 " I likes him togv," hinted Rick. But Margaret was 
 too heavy-hearted to do more than redeem her promise. 
 
 As they pulled up at the barnyard bars, Priest Buell 
 came briskly across the road. 
 
 "I was at the colonel s when our friend L llomme- 
 dieu called. He tells me he has seen you." 
 
 "Yes, I have seen him," replied Margaret, her lips 
 quivering ; and without a word Priest Buell lifted Rick 
 from the saddle, and took her hands in his. 
 
 "Is yo goin to he p down my dirl?" Rick asked, 
 with so much solicitude in his voice that even Margaret, 
 sad as she was, had to smile. 
 
 " Yes, I m going to help her down," said the minister, 
 with his quick laugh; "but she is my girl, Rick, my 
 little adopted daughter," he added tenderly, as he took 
 the girl in his fatherly arms, and landed her beside the 
 boy. 
 
 " Marse Bruce," said the child soberly, "he tol iuc 
 to take kere o Miss Marge, an I s a-goin to, I is ! " 
 
 Margaret caught the little fellow up and kissed him. 
 
 "Wa fo yo kwy, my dirl?" he asked. But Mar 
 garet hurried in without answering him. 
 
 It was nearly night when Ben and his grandfather 
 returned. 
 
 "Eh, but you ought to have been there, Meg ! " cried 
 the boy. "The Harbor s black with shipping, and the 
 redcoats were strutting about on the wharf as if they 
 owned the whole Island. I wanted mightily to go down
 
 A DISCOVERY. 235 
 
 to get a better look at em, but under the circumstances 
 it seemed more discreet to view them at a distance." 
 
 "And you heard nothing more?" asked Margaret, 
 forcing herself to speak quietly. 
 
 " No ; not a word. But I saw Lucinda, and what do 
 you think? She says that this morning, about an hour 
 before we got there, she had been baking ; and just as 
 she was taking the bread out of the oven, three redcoats 
 walked in, and helped themselves to every solitary loaf. 
 Ske was brave enough to tell em that they ought to be 
 ashamed to take what didn t belong to em ; but they 
 marched off with it as cool as you please, without so 
 much as saying Thank y ; all but one of em, a young 
 fellow that Cindy savs wasn t much more n a boy ; he 
 came back, and pulled out a Bible, 1 and gave it to her, 
 and said he d pay her in money if he had any." 
 
 " Poor fellows ! " sighed Meg. " I dare say some of 
 them are as badly off as our own men, and their friends 
 in England are no doubt just as anxious about them as 
 \ve are about our soldiers. O Ben, if we could only 
 know that they are safe ! " 
 
 "Yes, it s pretty hard," said Ben, stroking his chin; 
 " but uncertain news is no news at all. Besides, the war 
 can t last forever. The British ll tire of it themselves 
 after a while, and want to be getting home. Tisn t as if 
 they belonged here." 
 
 " But when, Ben? Who knows when?" moaned the 
 girl, burying her face in her hands. 
 
 " Oh, don t, Meg, don t ! " entreated Ben, with a lump 
 
 1 This Bible is still in the possession of the descendants of Lucinda Coleman.
 
 236 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 in his own throat. "There s mother calling us to sup 
 per." 
 
 Margaret turned to the window. 
 
 " Thou needst be in no haste," said her grandfather. 
 And when Ben called back to her to " cheer up and 
 come along," the old man motioned him to go on, and, 
 following at once, quietly closed the door behind him. 
 
 But Margaret instantly crowded back the tears, and 
 started to join them. 
 
 As she was crossing the room, she noticed a slip of 
 paper on the floor ; and on picking it up, found that it 
 was a receipt for two hundred dollars paid by Israel 
 Thurston to Benjamin Coleman for the benefit of the 
 soldiers. 
 
 "Bless his heart! No wonder he couldn t afford to 
 buy himself silk handkerchiefs," she said, as she folded 
 the bit of foolscap ; and when she took her place at the 
 table, her grandfather caught a look in the young eyes 
 that cheered him like a cordial. 
 
 " She has been comforted," he said to himself.
 
 A FAMOUS VICTORY. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 A FAMOUS VICTORY. 
 
 THE news of the enemy s occupation of the Harbor 
 caused a fresh reign of terror in the Hamptons. 
 
 "Looks mightily as if they d come to stay," droned 
 Olin Dole. " Cap n Fordham stopped to Mulford s 
 wharf while Sile an me was there clammin this mornin ; 
 an he says they ve took the Payne house out on the 
 Novae road for a hospital, an have got a big garrison 
 in down by the wharf. So there s nothin to hinder 
 their havin things their own way in the Harbor, there s 
 so few folks left there ; an tain t probable Connecticut s 
 got any men to spare to send over to help us fight 
 em." 
 
 But one fair May morning Deacon David Hedges 
 came galloping into the village ; and before there was a 
 chance to ask his errand, he was heard shouting lustily, 
 " Victory ! Victory ! Victory at the Harbor ! " 
 
 He halted in front of Nat Dominy s clock-shop, and 
 was soon rehearsing the marvellous story to a group of 
 excited listeners. 
 
 " Colonel Meigs," he said, " came over yesterday 
 from Guilford with thirteen whaleboats and a hundred 
 and seventy men, leaving there about one o clock in the
 
 238 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 afternoon, and reaching Southold at six in the evening. 
 From there fearing that they might run foul of some 
 of the enemy s fleet if they tried to go by water they 
 carried the boats overland, and after crossing to Short 
 Beach, left them hid in the bushes, with a few men to 
 guard them. Then they went to the house used as a 
 hospital, and seizing two men who were taking care of 
 the sick, made them their guides. The men, not daring 
 to refuse, led them around the cove to the Harbor, where 
 at Jim Howell s inn they found the British commander 
 snugly tucked in bed, and the colonel at once captured 
 him. That was about two o clock in the morning. Just 
 then an alarm was given, and from one of the armed 
 vessels at the wharf a shot was fired ; but the colonel 
 went straight ahead, and having overpowered the garri 
 son, proceeded to the shipping at the wharf. This they 
 found unprotected ; and though an armed schooner with 
 ten or twelve guns and sixty or seventy men opened fire 
 on them, they succeeded in destroying twelve sloops and 
 brigs, besides five hundred and twenty tons of hay and 
 ten hogsheads of rum, together with quantities of corn, 
 oats, and merchandise. The enemy had six men killed 
 and ninety taken prisoners, while strange to say not one 
 of Colonel Meigs s men was either killed or wounded." 
 
 "Ah, that was a victory worth winning!" cried 
 Ezekiel Mulford. 
 
 "Ay; and one of our o\vn men had a hand in it," 
 added the deacon. " Neighbor John White was with 
 the colonel through the whole of it, and did his full 
 share of the work.
 
 A FAMOUS VICTORY. 239 
 
 "Three cheers for Colonel Meigs, John White, an 
 all the rest o the brave company ! " shouted Silas Post. 
 
 And every man and boy responded with a will. 
 
 When the deacon drew rein in front of Nat Dominy s, 
 Margaret and her grandfather were in the shop, in 
 specting a clock that Aaron Neale had ordered before 
 the war began ; and no voice joined more heartily in the 
 cheering than that of the old Quaker. 
 
 " Look out, friend Thurston ! " cried Deacon Hedges. 
 "If the enemy should hear you, you might fare badly 
 in spite of your Quaker coat as badly perhaps as our 
 brave countryman, Stephen Sayre." 
 
 " Has any ill befallen him?" asked Captain Mulford. 
 
 " Haven t you heard? " said the deacon. " Stephen, 
 some little time ago, was made high sheriff of London ; 
 but he is a stanch American, and owing to his opposi 
 tion to England s harsh treatment of the colonies, he 
 was apprehended on the charge of treason, and thrown 
 into the Tower. His accusers claimed that he was plan 
 ning to seize His Majesty at noonday on his way to the 
 House of Peers, and after conveying him out of the 
 kingdom, to overturn the whole form of government by 
 bribing a few of the sergeants of the guard. Think of 
 sane men trumping up a charge so utterly ridiculous ! 
 
 " But he was acquitted, and has turned the tables by 
 bringing action against his enemies." 
 
 " Eh, but he s a plucky one ! " cried Silas Post ; " an 
 we re mighty proud to claim him as an East Ender. 
 Three cheers, boys, for Stephen Sayre, the patriotical 
 American high sheriff of London 1 " ft
 
 240 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 The boys led off with another lusty shout, in which the 
 others joined vigorously. But hardly had the "tiger" 
 ended, when three or four redcoats, appearing suddenly 
 from behind the lower windmill, dashed up and de 
 manded the meaning of the outburst. 
 
 "The cheers you heard, my friends, replied Priest 
 Buell suavely, "were in honor of the high sheriff of 
 London." 
 
 The soldiers, who, as it chanced, were not natives of 
 England, could not for their lives have told the name 
 of London s high sheriff ; and taking the explanation as 
 an evidence of the loyalty of the people, they rode on 
 without further waste of breath. 
 
 "You got em that time, parson," chuckled Silas. 
 
 "Truth is always safer than falsehood, Silas," an 
 swered Priest Buell with the utmost gravity,
 
 MORE RUMORS. 241 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 MORE RUMORS. 
 
 THE fields that spring had been tilled and planted 
 largely by the same willing workers that had 
 gathered in the autumn crops ; and as the season ad 
 vanced, there was promise of so large a yield that it 
 began to be questioned how it was all to be harvested. 
 But by the time it was ready for the sickle, a number of 
 the older men who had fled to Connecticut, and were 
 not in the regular service, had succeeded in reaching 
 home unmolested, and with these re-enforcements the 
 reaping went on bravely. 
 
 Among the recruits were Richard Osgood and Aaron 
 Neale ; and Margaret, working with them day after day 
 in the field, counted herself happy in simply being near 
 them. 
 
 But they could give her no comfort concerning L,odo- 
 wick. 
 
 Only once were the harvesters interrupted. All the 
 grain on the Thurston farm had been cut except a small 
 piece of spring wheat ; and one morning while they were 
 hard at it, bent on getting through before night, young 
 Job Lumley sprung over the fence, shouting that a boat 
 load of redcoats had landed at Fireplace.
 
 242 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Margaret begged her father and uncle to fly at once : 
 but putting Silas Post on guard, the men kept steadily 
 at work. 
 
 "It will be time enough to run when we are sure 
 that they are coming this way," said Richard Osgood. 
 "Keep a sharp eye out, Sile, and give us plenty of 
 leeway." 
 
 But Silas watched in vain. 
 
 " Like as not there wasn t a word of truth in it," he 
 growled. 
 
 But that evening, while the exiles were buckling on 
 their armor preparatory to making their way back to 
 Connecticut, they learned that the redcoats had not only 
 landed, but had been to Montauk trying to bribe the 
 Indians to become their allies ; and Big Sam reported 
 that Hodson, the cattle buyer, was one of the party. 
 
 "Just what might have been expected of him," cried 
 Ben. "And Sam says that a company of them landed 
 tother night at Canoe Place, and sneaking over to 
 Shinnecock, tried the same game there. I dare say 
 Hodson put em up to it. But old Peter John, the 
 preacher, sent em off with a bee in their bonnets. The 
 Indians know who are their friends." 
 
 "Ay; and their friendship is well worth keeping," 
 said his Uncle Aaron. And then he turned to Margaret. 
 
 O 
 
 "Courage, little one," he whispered, taking her in 
 his arms. " One who is a soldier s daughter and a 
 soldier s wife must keep a stout heart." 
 
 For hours after the house was still that night the girl 
 knelt at her window with her face lifted to the stars.
 
 MORE RUMORS. 243 
 
 "Courage! courage!" she repeated. "O Christ! 
 how long? how long?" 
 
 But she wore a bright face when she went down-stairs 
 the next morning, and not even her grandfather fathomed 
 her suffering. Why should she go about levying a tax 
 on the sympathy of her friends, she asked herself, when 
 their hearts were already so heavily burdened? She 
 thought of Debby Brewster and Miss Frances. How 
 bravely they were enduring the harrowing suspense ! 
 And how many there were who in all these weary months 
 had nothing whatever from the relatives who had gone 
 into exile ! No, come what might, she would strive to 
 be cheerful by day, and keep her tears for the night 
 watches. 
 
 And hers was but one of the many thousands of pil 
 lows that during those desolate years were drenched 
 with tears at night by those who for the sake of others 
 carried a brave front throughout the day with dreary, 
 hopeless tears of which none but God took note. But 
 bitterer far, and like the sands of the sea for number, 
 were the tears that were crowded back on the breaking 
 heart unshed. And of these, too, God kept the record. 
 
 Every sort of hearsay concerning the sufferings of 
 those who had been taken prisoners by the enemy was 
 on the wing ; and in the lack of facilities for obtaining 
 any definite information, these wandering rumors tor 
 tured almost beyond endurance the hearts already so 
 preyed on by despair and grief. Hundreds, it was said, 
 of the men who had been captured on Long Island and at 
 Fort Washington had been thrown into the underground
 
 244 ^N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 dungeons of the old City Hall and the new jail, into 
 King s College and the old Sugar House the well, 
 the wounded, and the sick being huddled together like 
 cattle while others had been immured in those float 
 ing hells, the prison ships. In some of these places jail 
 fever was raging and the prisoners were dying by scores ; 
 they were insulted and maltreated by brutal guards ; 
 they were fed on food not fit for swine ; and their beds 
 mere heaps of straw were so filled with vermin that 
 night brought neither sleep nor rest. 
 
 The people listened shudderingly to these grewsome 
 tales, and tried to persuade themselves that they were 
 only half true. 
 
 In winter advice of the progress of the war was often 
 many weeks on its way, but at other times it travelled 
 faster. It was midsummer when the news of St. Cl air s 
 evacuation of Ticonderoga swept like a tidal wave over 
 the Island, carrying with it fresh consternation. But 
 this was speedily followed with the stirring story of 
 General Stark s victory at Bennington. 
 
 Scarcely, however, had they begun to rejoice, when 
 word came of the battle of Brandyvvine. 
 
 " More than a thousand of our men killed, wounded, 
 and taken prisoners, and Philadelphia in the hands of 
 the British," said the brief bulletin that found its way to 
 the Hamptons one peaceful autumn day. 
 
 More than a thousand men ! and alas, who knew how 
 many of the East End soldiers were of the number? 
 
 But soon there was another shout of victory: " Bur- 
 goyne has surrendered ! " It went down the Island like
 
 MORE RUMORS. 24$ 
 
 a rallying-cry, and the faith and hope that had been so 
 nearly quenched revived again. 
 
 Many regarded the surrender as an indication that 
 the war was drawing to a close ; but the winter wore on 
 without bringing anything to encourage this belief. In 
 Philadelphia, rumor said, the British were feasting and 
 rioting, while twenty miles away Washington and his 
 men were heroically battling against cold and hunger, 
 and the many other ills that made so drearily memora- 
 *ble that winter at Valley Forge. 
 
 And nearer home the lawless invaders were commit 
 ting all manner of depredations. 
 
 "At Huntington," said Captain Mulford, who with 
 Squire Osborn and Colonel Gardiner was making a 
 neighborly call at the Thurstons , "they have turned 
 the church into a storehouse. It must be a sore trial to 
 old Priest Prime. He has preached there for over half 
 a century, and his church is the apple of his eye. They 
 have stalled their horses in his stable ; and besides ap 
 propriating to their own use his rooms and furniture, 
 they have wantonly mutilated many of his most valu 
 able books. But there is nothing that so cuts him to 
 the heart as their desecration of the Lord s house." 
 
 "They have no reverence for anything," said the 
 Squire. "At Setauket they have taken the church for 
 barracks ; and on Shelter Island they are cutting down 
 the timber right and left, and preying on private prop- 
 erty." 
 
 "And it was there that Friend Fox delivered his mes 
 sage of peace," said the old Quaker, sorrowfully. "The
 
 246 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Manor is dear to our people ; it was truly a place of 
 shelter to our persecuted ones when Boston in her un 
 righteous zeal banished them on pain of death, and 
 twice George Fox was a guest there in the time of the 
 Sylvestres. I trust our friends the Derings are not 
 there." 
 
 "Nay, the Derings are safe in Connecticut," said 
 Colonel Gardiner; "so Nathaniel tells me."
 
 A LETTER. 247 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 A LETTER. 
 
 DURING the following spring and summer so little 
 news of any description reached the East End 
 that it almost seemed to the isolated inhabitants as if the 
 rest of the world had been swallowed by the sea. At 
 harvest-time three or four of the farmers came home 
 stealthily from Connecticut again to help get the grain 
 under cover, but they brought no tidings from those at 
 the front. Margaret had been living for weeks on the 
 hope of seeing her father and uncle, but neither of them 
 came. 
 
 " Perhaps they have been ordered elsewhere," sug 
 gested Nathaniel Gardiner, who, home for his vacation, 
 had volunteered to help the reapers. " Here, let me do 
 that," he cried, taking possession of the sheaf that Mar 
 garet was trying to bind. " It hurts me, little twin, to 
 see you doing work like this." 
 
 " Oh, I am thankful that I am able to do it! It is 
 hard work, I own ; but when I think of what our men 
 are suffering, our hardships and deprivations seem petty. 
 They say our prisoners are shamefully treated, especially 
 the sick. Oh, if they would only let them be taken to 
 some place where they could have proper care ! "
 
 248 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Do you know what I am meaning to do, Madge? " 
 asked the young fellow, looking up with his face aglow 
 with enthusiasm. "I am studying for a surgeon; and 
 as soon as I am through, I am going to enter the service. 
 I d like to go at once ; but father says I must wait till I 
 finish the course, and that will take another year." 
 
 " O Nathaniel, how glad I am ! " cried the girl. Ah, 
 I shall envy you. But by that time the war may be 
 over." 
 
 "There s no hope of that, I fear. When the news 
 came that Lord North was trying to bring it to a close 
 with his Conciliatory Bills, there did seem to be a 
 possibility of peace ; but it was too late. If the same 
 overtures had come before the war began, no doubt for 
 the sake of peace they would have been accepted ; but 
 if they were accepted now, the blood that has been shed 
 would count for nothing. No ; when England acknowl 
 edges our independence, we shall be very glad to lay 
 down our arms, but not before ; for, as General Wash 
 ington himself says, a peace obtained on any other 
 terms would be at best a peace of war. 
 
 " France has set England a good example in that re 
 spect," said Margaret; "and the credit, I suppose, is 
 partly due to Benjamin Franklin. What a wonderful 
 man he is ! " 
 
 "Oh, he is half a dozen men in one! See what a 
 philosopher he is, what a statesman, what an inventor ! 
 One of our college fellows who hails from the East End 
 says that one day when his father was at the inn at 
 Southold Dr. Franklin stopped there, and the carriage
 
 A LETTER. 249 
 
 he was in had some sort of clockwork machinery, ar 
 ranged in such a way that every twenty rods a bell 
 would strike, so that he could tell the exact distance 
 he had travelled. He seems to be always contriving 
 something, Who else would ever have thought of tying 
 a kite to a thunderbolt? And what would people do 
 without Poor Richard s Almanac ? Eh, Marjorie, 
 you have hurt your hand ! " 
 
 " It s nothing but a scratch," she said, gathering up 
 another armful. But already he had pulled out his 
 handkerchief, and torn off a bandage. 
 
 " What reckless extravagance ! " laughed Madge. 
 
 But Nathaniel bound up the bleeding finger without a 
 smile. 
 
 "O little twin," he cried, "to think that even you 
 must be wounded for the cause ! " And with that he 
 bent his head and touched his lips reverently to the 
 hand he held. 
 
 Margaret s face instantly grew grave. 
 
 " My heart is worse wounded than my hand, Na 
 thaniel," she said gently. "It is so hard to wait for 
 tidings from those I love, from father and Uncle John 
 and Lodowick Brewster." It cost her a brave effort 
 to speak Lodowick s name ; but she felt that she owed it 
 to Nathaniel, who from childhood had been her friend 
 and comrade, to let him know that her hand was 
 pledged. 
 
 The young fellow looked for an instant as if he had 
 heard unexpected and not altogether welcome news. 
 His boyhood lay so close behind him, and his thoughts
 
 250 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 of late had been so occupied with his studies and the 
 war, that he had not found much time for love-dreams ; 
 but it had always seemed to him that the woman that he 
 should sometime woo and wed would have Margaret s 
 clear brown eyes, her fleeting dimples, and her sweet and 
 gentle dignity, and his first feeling was that Lodowick 
 had stolen a march on him. But Lodowick 
 
 " I am glad it is Lodowick," he said, frankly. 
 
 As they started for home, they saw Olin Dole, with 
 his limping gait, running to meet them. 
 
 " Be n a big battle fought at Monmouth Court House ! " 
 he gasped. " Our folks had over sixty killed, and 
 more n a hundred and fifty wounded." 
 
 " Yes ; but the enemy had over two hundred an forty 
 killed, an nearly a hundred took prisoners," added Silas 
 Post, following hard after Olin; " so the vict ry was on 
 our side, after all. They say t Cap n Jesse Halsey an 
 Lias Pelletreau an his brother was in the battle, an 
 Stephen Howell too ; but whether they come out alive 
 or not nobody seems to know. Twas Bill Burnett sent 
 the news. You know him an Sam el Rose an Shad 
 Hildreth are surgeons in the army, an so s Hen White; 
 an there s a rumor t Hen s be n took prisoner." 
 
 " Oh, I hope it isn t true ! Priest White and his wife 
 will be almost heart-broken," said Margaret. " Henry 
 was their Benjamin. O Deborah ! have you heard?" 
 
 They were at the Brewsters gate, and Deborah had 
 run out to speak to them. 
 
 "Yes; we have heard," answered the girl with a 
 shudder. They say it was a victory; but oh, to think
 
 A LETTER. 251 
 
 how many lives were sacrificed ! Did you hear whether 
 any of our Easthampton boys were in it, Silas?" 
 
 "I don know bout that; prob ly they was, as some 
 of em s in the same company s the Southamptoners. 
 But they say t Will Bray don he didn t egzac ly belong 
 in Easthampton, I m glad to say, but he use to be round 
 here a good eal was one of the prisoners t they took 
 from the British." 
 
 "From the British! Oh, that must be a mistake, 
 SHas ! " cried Margaret, putting herself in front of Deb 
 orah, who had grown deathly white. 
 
 "Well, that s what they say," Silas insisted. "He 
 was in reg lar redcoat rig, an Lias Pelletreau knew 
 him right off. Prob ly there s plenty more jus like him, 
 only they re lucky enough not to git caught." 
 
 " Oh, come, Sile," said Ben, who had been leaning 
 over the fence in the hope of a chance to speak to 
 Debby, "we don t want to hear any slurs of that sort 
 on the East Enders." 
 
 " Very likely they have made a mistake in the name," 
 suggested Nathaniel. But he got no answer; for Mar 
 garet had slipped her arm round Deborah, and was 
 hurrying her to the house. 
 
 "Do you believe it, Margaret?" asked Deborah, 
 looking at her with dilated eves. 
 
 o */ 
 
 "Oh, I m sure it can t be true, dear!" And Mar 
 garet was quite honest in saying this ; for though she 
 had never been able to like young Braydon very heart 
 ily, she could not bring herself to believe that he was 
 capable of such baseness.
 
 252 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " If he had fallen in battle, fighting for his country," 
 Deborah went on, "I could have borne it. But this! 
 O Margaret! And why did he deceive me? If he felt 
 that it was his duty to fight for England, why didn t he 
 say so, instead of leaving us to think that he had enlisted 
 under Washington? But I know it can t be true. It 
 was some other Braydon." 
 
 " Oh, it must have been ! " Margaret answered read 
 ily. But she was too wise to multiply words. " If any 
 one can comfort her it is Sister Frances," she said to 
 herself, her heart warming at the thought that she was 
 her sister as well as Deborah s. 
 
 They found the invalid knitting in the twilight. 
 
 "Another pair almost ready for some brave soldier," 
 she said, holding up the sock she was toeing. But 
 something in the girls faces startled her. 
 
 " What is it, Marjorie? Have you had news? Is it 
 Lodowick ? " 
 
 Margaret shook her head. 
 
 " Debby will tell you," she whispered, as she stooped 
 and kissed her. And then she hurried away, feeling 
 that Deborah no longer needed her. 
 
 But at the gate she met Big Sam. 
 
 "Letter fo Miss Boose," said the Indian. "Big 
 Sam git him to Harbor. Cap n Eph m Fordham he gib 
 
 , O " 
 
 it to oam. 
 
 "A letter?" cried Miss Frances, as Margaret came 
 flying back. 
 
 "It is for you," said Margaret. And the two girls 
 waited breathlessly, while the invalid broke the seal.
 
 A LETTER.. 253 
 
 " It is from Lodowick himself, thank God !" she said 
 softly. 
 
 It was written in pencil on brown wrapping-paper, 
 and was hard to read. But Margaret was no longer 
 impatient, for within it was a folded slip directed to 
 herself. 
 
 Both letters had evidently been written in haste. He 
 was on board an American privateer, in company with 
 Aaron Neale, and improving an unexpected opportunity, 
 he^ent this brief message to entreat them not to be anx 
 ious about them. He had been a prisoner, but had 
 escaped at the end of a fortnight. They were in ex 
 cellent health, and he hoped to have soon some en 
 couraging news. 
 
 " It tells so little," complained Deborah. 
 
 But Miss Frances dropped back on her pillow with 
 a fervent thanksgiving, while Margaret hurried home to 
 share the good news with her grandfather. 
 
 " Free again ! " she murmured to herself. " O love ! 
 Thank God ! thank God ! " 
 
 That evening when Ben had lighted his candle to go 
 to bed, there being no moon, he lingered to ask Mar 
 garet a question. 
 
 " What was the matter with Debby, Meg? Anybody 
 might have thought Bill Braydon was her brother by 
 the way she took Sile s story to heart." 
 
 "He was her lover," said Meg, feeling that she 
 could trust Ben with the secret. 
 
 "Well, he ought to be hung ! " blurted Ben.
 
 254 ^N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE ENEMY AT THE DOOR. 
 
 IT was a gray-skied, vapory day ; and Margaret, who 
 was feeling a little low in spirits, had come with her 
 knitting to sit a while with Miss Krances. 
 
 " I declare I m almost jealous of you, France," pouted 
 Debby, dropping clown on a hassock at Margaret s feet. 
 " Nobody ever comes to sit with me." 
 
 "She has been helping me pick up stitches," said 
 Margaret, glancing brightly at Miss Frances. 
 
 " And picking up some for myself at the same time," 
 said the invalid with an answering smile. 
 
 Just then Mam Zany burst into the room, and with a 
 wild shriek threw herself down by the bed. 
 
 " Fo de Ian sake, Miss Franz, do stop dem needles 
 long nough to heah de news ol Pomp s brung fom 
 Soufhamp n. De enemy am come down bag an bag 
 gage, an pos emsel s in people s housens dar, same s 
 if dey owns em, widout so much as savin by yo lieb ; 
 an Pomp, he say, de firs we know, dey ll be a-comin 
 ober heah an doin de wery same likewise. De Lawd 
 hab massy on us dat we lib to see dis day ! " 
 
 For the brief space that it took Mam Zany to tell her 
 story, Miss Frances held her needles motionless. Then,
 
 THE ENEMY AT THE DOOR. 255 
 
 though her delicate face was a shade paler, and the thin 
 hands trembled slightly, the knitting began again. 
 
 " Though a host should encamp against me, my 
 heart shall not fear, " she repeated quietly. " Hand me 
 that ball of yarn, please, Zany, and be sure to give 
 Pomp something to eat before he goes." 
 
 "Well, ef yo ain t de codes , Miss Franz! I blieb 
 my soul, ef I sh tell yo de hous s afire, yo d jus say 
 a prawer, an go right on wid dat eberlastin knittin ," 
 grumbled the old woman. 
 
 But Margaret and Deborah were sufficiently excited 
 over the news to atone for the placidity with which Miss 
 Frances had received it. 
 
 "Zany, are you sure that Pomp isn t trying to scare 
 you?" cried Deborah. "You know how fond he is of 
 a joke." 
 
 " My Ian sake, Miss Deb ! he dat skeered hisself dat 
 he turn pale to de idge ob his haah. lie say dey s jus 
 a-brisslin wid bay nets, an swarm like dey s pirate 
 men." 
 
 " Oh, it is dreadful to think of their being so near 
 us ! " gasped Margaret. 
 
 "Is Southampton nearer than the Harbor?" asked 
 Miss Frances. 
 
 " Oh, but we knew when they landed at the Harbor 
 that it was chiefly to guard the port," said Deborah. 
 " It is very different their coming to the Hamptons, and 
 at this time of the year, too. What could we lone 
 women do, France, if they should come here? Oh, if 
 Lodowick were only home ! "
 
 256 JN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Sh-sh, Miss Deb," remonstrated Mam Zany, quieted 
 in spite of herself by the atmosphere of peace that sur 
 rounded her mistress. " No use takin on dat way. I s 
 goin to stan guard ober dis yere house, I is, de Lord 
 pomittin me, an ef any ob dem ungodly heaben tempts 
 to pass de doah, dey s got to look out fo 1 deir heads. 
 Heah bout dat Mis Townsen up to Cedah Swamp? 
 Tuddah mownin , w en she s a-doin her bakin , some 
 ob dem deblish redcoats come a-gallopin up, an say as 
 bol as a lion dat dey want de key to de grain ouse. She 
 tol em, quiet-like, but veh detarmined, dat she ain t got 
 no grain to gib em. Den dey gins to swar t ef she don 
 gib em de key dey s goin to smash in de doah. But 
 wid dat she jus up wid her big bread-shobel, an" went 
 to lammin em so dat dey s mighty keen to git out o de 
 way. An ef any ob em come a-pesterin roun heah, 
 dey ll fin Mam Zany kin use a bread-shobel too ; so 
 don yo worry, chile." 
 
 "Please, may I come in?" asked a tragic voice at the 
 half-open door. 
 
 " Mehitable ! The idea of waiting to ask ! " ex- 
 
 & 
 
 claimed Miss Frances. " We are all taken up with 
 discussing our new neighbors at Southampton. Have 
 you heard about them?" 
 
 "Indeed I have. I have heard nothing else for the 
 last two hours. Everybody is quaking at the prospect 
 of having them so near us. I believe I feel a little shaky 
 myself, but I m going to keep the bread-shovel handy." 
 
 "Oh! had you heard about Mrs. Townsend, too?" 
 asked Margaret.
 
 THE ENEMY AT THE DOOR. 2$? 
 
 " Yes ; and about our friend Hannah Brown at Oyster- 
 ponds, Hannah Hawk that was. You know she keeps 
 tavern there ; and one evening not long ago a party of 
 British walked in, and demanded the key of the room 
 where the liquors were kept, threatening to break down 
 the door if she refused them. But Hannah just planted 
 her back against it, and told them that if any of them 
 passed the threshold it would be over her dead body ; 
 and though one of the wretches struck the muzzle of his 
 gun on both sides of the door as near as he could with 
 out hitting her, she never budged an inch, and at last 
 they sneaked away. Tell you it makes me proud of women 
 when I hear of their doing anything so brave as that." 
 
 " Oh! women as a rule are not lacking in courage/ 
 said Miss Frances. "Even those that scream at the 
 sight of a mouse are usually equal to any emergency 
 where genuine courage is demanded." 
 
 "Well, if the redcoats come any nearer, there will be 
 a demand for all the courage we can muster ; and I hope 
 none of us will show the white feather. I m going to 
 begin at once to practise with the bread-shovel ; and I 
 think," she added, reflectively, "it might be a good plan 
 to keep on hand a kettle of boiling water, with perhaps 
 a handful of red peppers in it." 
 
 " It s all very well to talk about bread-shovels and 
 kettles of pepper tea for those that have the strength to 
 manage them," scoffed Deborah, too distressed to realize 
 that Miss Mehitable had not meant her suggestion to be 
 taken literally, "but imagine Sister Frances trying to 
 use such weapons."
 
 258 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Oh ! we feeble folk have a surer defence than bread- 
 shovels, Debby dear," said Miss Frances, laying her 
 hand on the girl s head. 
 
 " I dare say they re not half as bad as they ve been 
 reported," said Miss Mehitable. "But at all events 
 we ll have to make the best of it ; for according to Tom 
 Davis s account, it looks as if they were meaning to stay 
 indefinitely. He says that they have already begun 
 building forts, and have ordered out the people with 
 their ox-carts to cut down the hedges to be used in 
 filling up their trenches. But they are not likely to get 
 the town cannon ; for Ben Huntting and two or three 
 others took both of them they are not very large, you 
 know and carried them up into the belfry, and hung 
 them as weights to the town clock. 1 I dare say they 
 didn t care to have it get about; but Tom couldn t keep 
 it to himself, and I don t wonder. Twas something 
 well thought of, to outwit them in that way ; but there s 
 no telling how soon they will take possession of the 
 church itself, as they did in Setauket and Iluntington, 
 and turn it into a garrison. It is outrageous, the way 
 they are going on. They ve no more respect for a meet 
 ing-house than they have for a pig-pen ; in fact, not as 
 much, for they have a keen palate for swine s flesh. 
 But, dear me ! I must be going. I started out to see if 
 I could beg, borrow, or steal something in the shape of 
 store sweetening for Mother Miller. The dear old saint 
 has neither sugar nor molasses, and since that last attack 
 of rheumatism she has had so little appetite that I thought 
 
 1 One of these pieces remained in the belfry until 1843.
 
 THE ENEMY AT THE DOOR. 259 
 
 if I could fix up something sweet maybe it might tempt 
 her." 
 
 "Oh! I m glad you spoke of it," responded Miss 
 Frances heartily. " I ve a whole loaf that Mrs. Howell 
 sent me the other day from Southampton. It must have 
 cost her a good round sum ; but she says that whatever 
 else she goes without she must have sugar, if she has 
 to pay a pound a pound." 
 
 " That sounds just like Joanna. I always used to tell 
 her that she had a sweet tooth. Dear me ! What will 
 become of her? Zebulon, you know, has finally fled to 
 Connecticut to keep from taking the oath." 
 
 " But her boys are with her ? " 
 
 "Yes; and that stately way of hers is as good as a 
 bodyguard." 
 
 While they were talking Deborah, who at a sign 
 from her sister had left the room, returned, bringing 
 a pyramid of white sugar wrapped in heavy purple 
 paper. 
 
 "Well, well, that does one s eyes good," cried Miss 
 Mehitable, as Deborah, with hammer and knife, began 
 breaking off the glistening lumps. "I haven t seen as 
 much sugar as that all told since the war began. But 
 Joanna meant that for your own use, Frances, and I m 
 not going to let you rob yourself of anything so precious. 
 Molasses will do just as well." 
 
 "There, take that," said Miss Frances, as Deborah 
 filled to the brim a shining pewter cup ; " and when it is 
 gone, come for more." 
 
 "Well, you ll have your reward," said Miss Hitty,
 
 260 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 standing up and drawing her shawl together. " Don t for 
 get, girls, to begin to practise with your bread-shovels." 
 She whisked out of the room with a little laugh ; but 
 she had tilted her sunbonnet over her eyes, and before 
 she reached the gate she was brushing off the tears.
 
 A TEMPTING PROPOSITION. 261 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 A TEMPTING PROPOSITION. 
 
 IT was only a few days later that an imposing company 
 of redcoats came cantering down the village street. 
 Presently the cavalcade halted in front of the parsonage, 
 and the next moment those whose coign of vantage came 
 in range of the parsonage door saw Priest Buell stand 
 ing on the threshold courteously greeting the command 
 ing officer. The latter had dismounted, and after what 
 seemed to be a formal exchange of civilities, the two 
 went in. 
 
 It was a full half-hour before they reappeared, the 
 officer wearing an ominous frown, and Priest Buell 
 bowing him out with gracious courtesy ; and by the 
 time the dust-cloud in the wake of the vanishing horse 
 men had found its level, it was known from one end of 
 the village to the other that the leader of the party was 
 General Tryon, and that the object of his visit was to 
 lay before Priest Buell a proposition to give tea, rum, 
 and sugar, together with whatever might be wanted in 
 the way of dry goods, in exchange for beef and farming 
 produce. 
 
 " No use o their undertakin to try on any such game 
 as that with Priest Buell, said Silas Post, who, seated on
 
 262 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 the Thurstons wood-pile, was discussing the subject with 
 Olin and Ben. "The parson s sensible enough to know 
 t when a mule winks at you with his left eye, you kin 
 always look out for his heels." 
 
 " No," said Ben, decidedly, as he gathered up an arm 
 ful of wood ; " much as we d all enjoy having some of 
 the good things of life once more, we don t want em 
 badly enough to be willing to take em on any such 
 terms." 
 
 Silas and Olin each picked up an armful and followed 
 him in. 
 
 "That s so," said Silas. " Fact is, we ain t got any 
 more beef an farm produce n we want for ourselves." 
 
 "Well, for my part," said Prudence, "I consider it 
 too good an opportunity to be lost. We could easily 
 spare a portion of our corn and cattle for the sake of 
 having something fit to set before a visitor, and be able 
 once more to clothe ourselves like Christians ; and I 
 hope Priest Buell will have sense enough to make the 
 most of it." 
 
 " Oh ! come, Mis Golby, you re the last one that 
 ought to be hankerin after the leeks an onions of Egyp , 
 so to speak," protested Silas; "anybody t kin make 
 things as appertizin as you kin out o jus flour an 
 water. Look at that doughnut, will you?" For Pru 
 dence, who had been filling a platter with puffy brown 
 balls from the great black kettle on the crane, had not 
 neglected to treat the boys. 
 
 " Oh ! they re light enough, but such tasteless things, 
 without sugar or currants, or even a pinch of spice.
 
 A TEMPTING PROPOSITION. 263 
 
 When we can get hold of some of those foreign com 
 modities again, I ll show you doughnuts that ll make 
 your mouth water." 
 
 " Home flavoring s good enough for me, mother," 
 Ben declared. 
 
 "I m sartain I don t ask anything better," responded 
 Silas. " Besides, if we once begun that sort o thing 
 there s no tellin where twould stop ; an I don t like the 
 idear o the East En settin such a bad example." 
 
 " I don know as it ll make any difference," muttered 
 Olin. " They re boun to git what they want some way 
 or nuther." 
 
 " And who has a better right, if they take it by the 
 king s order?" asked Prudence, bridling. " And that s 
 why I say that so fair an offer ought to be accepted at 
 once. If it s refused now, it isn t likely that they ll 
 condescend to repeat it." 
 
 Silas, in his bantering fashion, kept up the discussion 
 until Ben started out for another armful of wood, and 
 went away flattering himself that he had made two or 
 three very good points. But it was not long before 
 Prudence had the satisfaction of saying, "I told you 
 so ; " for the enemy, finding that cattle and produce were 
 not to be had for the asking, did not hesitate to help 
 themselves to what they wanted. Some of their troops 
 were stationed at Bridgehampton, and some at the Har 
 bor ; and scarcely a day passed without bringing foraging 
 parties to Easthampton. Usually their depredations 
 were committed by the order of inferior officers, and the 
 latter were sometimes severely reprimanded by their
 
 264 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 superiors ; but the commander-in-chief himself had no 
 regard for the comfort and convenience of the people, 
 and did not scruple to seize cattle, hay, and grain, and 
 to impress for labor horses and oxen, and, not infre 
 quently, the owners. Payment, it is true, was gene 
 rally made for these requisitions, but there was not gold 
 enough in the whole British army to compensate for the 
 indignities that these long-suffering patriots were forced 
 to endure. None could tell on rising in the morning 
 what new exactions the day might bring ; and the night 
 was still more dreaded, for soldiers in small squads 
 were continually prowling about the neighborhood, ready 
 for any dark deed that might suggest itself, and making 
 it necessary for every household to have some one on 
 guard. 
 
 " Had a great time over at Georgica last night at 
 Cap n Dayton s," cried Ben one winter afternoon, rush 
 ing into the keeping-room where Margaret sat spinning. 
 "The cap n was waked up long the middle of the night 
 by a lot of redcoats trying to break into the house. 
 There was no one with him but little Joe ; and routing 
 him out of bed, he sent him off through the snow, the 
 back way, just as he was, with nothing on but his night 
 shirt, and told him to run to Jericho and give the alarm. 
 Then, seizing his gun and getting behind the loom, the 
 cap n shouted to the men that he d shoot the first one 
 that tried to enter. At that, as if to dare him, they fired 
 through the window, and two or three shots lodged in 
 the post of the loom. All this time he kept calling out 
 to Tom, Dick, and Harry, as if he had a houseful back
 
 A TEMPTING PROPOSITION. 26$ 
 
 of him ; and when at last the wretches succeeded in 
 bursting in the door, he let fire. He says he d hardly 
 hoped to scare em off, but they took to their heels in a 
 hurry. Whether he d killed anybody or not he couldn t 
 tell, but they left marks of blood behind em in the 
 sand ; and this morning, while he was at work in the 
 cowyard, old Cochrane dashed in on horseback, and 
 brandishing his cutlass, threatened to make an end of 
 him on the spot for killing one of his men ; but the 
 ctip n snatched up a pitchfork, and used it to such good 
 purpose that the major was glad to put spurs to his 
 horse." 
 
 Before Margaret had time to make any comment, 
 Silas Post and Olin Dole came in. 
 
 " Hear bout their goin to Lem el Pierson s?" asked 
 Silas. "There wasn t any one there but Mis Pierson 
 an the young ones ; but she met em with a kettle of hot 
 water, an tol em she d scald the first man that tried to 
 git in. Tell you what, she s got good grit." 
 
 " Cap n Woolley says Major Cochrane s makin it hot 
 for the folks in Bridgehampton an the Harbor," added 
 Olin. " Ol Tryon s bad enough, but that Cochrane s a 
 reg lar savage. Why, t other day he got miffed at Bill 
 Russell bout somethin or other, an had him tied up 
 an whipped till the blood run down to his boots. They 
 say t sometimes he helps lay on the gad himself." 
 
 " No wonder the men are such brutes, when they have 
 officers like him," said Silas. " Why, Jonathan Hedges 
 says that one day at Sagg, the major took young Joe 
 Brown an tied him up for a mark to shoot at ; an when
 
 266 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 his mother sent black Pete to beg him to let the boy go, 
 the wretch took Pete an set him up, an begun shootin 
 at him" 
 
 "Oh! please don t tell us anything more," entreated 
 Margaret, with set lips and a white face. 
 
 But even harder to endure than the harsh treatment 
 of the enemy were the persecutions to which they were 
 subjected by predatory bands of Tories. Some of the 
 latter had attached themselves to the British army, while 
 others had their headquarters in Connecticut, and made a 
 practice of crossing to the East End whenever it suited 
 their pleasure. 
 
 "They seem to be carrying on their nefarious business 
 all over the country," remarked Squire Osborn to Cap 
 tain Mulford. " I was in Southampton yesterday; and 
 Priest White read me a letter that he had just received 
 from his son Dr. Ebenezer, who is living at Yorktown, 
 in Westchester County, and it seems that patriots are 
 faring no better there than here. The doctor is an out- 
 and-out Whig, and the Tories and the British together 
 have subjected him to all manner of persecutions. On 
 several occasions they have surrounded his house in the 
 hope of capturing him, and though he has managed to 
 keep out of their clutches, Priest White feels anxious 
 about him ; and it is not to be wondered at, with one 
 son already a prisoner." 
 
 The two men had chanced to meet in front of the 
 Thurstons . Margaret was helping Hagar hang out 
 the washing, and she caught now and then a fragment 
 of a sentence from the other side of the hedge. But
 
 A TEMPTING PROPOSITION. 267 
 
 Rick was following her about from bush to bush, and 
 keeping up such a chattering that at first she paid no 
 attention to the conversation. 
 
 "It is true, then, that Henry has been captured?" 
 said Captain Mulford. 
 
 "Ay; and word has just come that several others of 
 our men are in the hands of the British." And now 
 Margaret started forward and listened breathlessly. 
 
 "They were on an American privateer," the Squire 
 continued ; " and Captain Baker reports that the vessel 
 was taken with nearly all on board." 
 
 "And who of our men were among them?" asked 
 Mulford. 
 
 The Squire low r ered his voice. But the young ears 
 were quick to hear, and a moment later the girl was at 
 the gate trying to frame a question. 
 
 Her grandfather was standing on the porch ; and see 
 ing that something was wrong, he hurried down the path. 
 But before he could reach her, Margaret, for the first 
 time in her life, had fainted ; for two of the men named 
 were Aaron Neale and Lodowick Brewster.
 
 268 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 A RUTHLESS SWORD THRUST. 
 
 , go with me to Nathaniel Dominy s, little 
 one," said the old Quaker, on a breezy morning, 
 a fortnight later. "I want to see what progress he is 
 making with the new clock." 
 
 She had been rather closely housed of late, and this, 
 together with her fresh burden of anxiety concerning 
 her father and Lodowick, had so robbed her of her color 
 that he was beginning to be troubled about her ; but her 
 eyes brightened at the prospect of a walk, and pushing 
 back her wheel, she made haste to put on her hood and 
 cloak. The hood was turned back from her forehead ; 
 and the young face, framed in the soft blue lining, was 
 startling in its loveliness. 
 
 " T would be well to wear a veil," said her grand 
 father. 
 
 " Oh ! I don t mind a little buffeting, grandpa," she 
 answered, with no suspicion that it was from something 
 besides the lawless wind that he wanted to shield her. 
 But she obediently brought a thick green veil, and tied 
 it over her hood. 
 
 They found the clockmaker at work on the dial. 
 
 " I m doing my best, Friend Thurston," he said, turn-
 
 A RUTHLESS SWORD THRUST. 269 
 
 ing the clock around for his visitors to inspect it; " but 
 I m beginning to think it won t be done while the war 
 lasts, for I m out of weights and hands." 
 
 The case was made of mahogany that Aaron Neale 
 had brought from Honduras in his own ship, and it had 
 been polished till it shone like satin. 
 
 " It is wonderful wood," said Margaret. 
 
 "Ay," answered Dominy ; "and there s getting to 
 be such a rage for it that one might easily make a for 
 tune out of it if this fight were ended. There s no pros 
 pect, though, of its ending very soon ; and with a man 
 like Tryon in command you never know what is coming 
 next. The latest news from Southampton is that he s 
 going to turn the church into a stable." 
 
 " Hadst thou that on good authority, Friend Dom 
 iny?" asked the Quaker. " It is hard to believe that a 
 man can have so little reverence for the Lord s house." 
 
 "It is scant reverence Tryon has for anything but 
 himself," said Dominy. " lie s the sort of man that 
 thinks he made the world, and the Lord just stood and 
 looked on. And most of those under him are off the 
 same piece." 
 
 " It is a grievous thing," said the old Quaker, turning 
 to go, "that such tyrants are put in authority over a 
 defenceless people." 
 
 "Oh that England knew the shameful deeds that 
 these men are guilty of! " cried the girl, as they came 
 out. 
 
 Her grandfather made no answer. He was walking 
 with his head bent, deep in thought. But when, a few
 
 2/0 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 minutes later, a party of redcoats came riding toward 
 them, he hastily drew her hand to his arm, and called 
 her attention to a squirrel that was running across the 
 graveyard. But at the same moment a wanton gust 
 blew back her veil. 
 
 "Hold, old broad-brim!" shouted the leader. "If 
 you haven t reverence enough for the king s officers to 
 make your bow, take that ! " And leaning from the 
 saddle, he struck off the Quaker hat with his sword. 
 
 The old man stood silent, with his white locks tossing 
 in the wind. But Margaret faced about, with her eyes 
 ablaze. 
 
 " Brute ! " she ejaculated ; and while the man, cowed 
 by that indignant flash, was trying to resettle himself in 
 the saddle, she turned to pick up the hat. But before 
 she could overtake it, the wind having carried it a little 
 beyond her, one of the younger officers, springing down, 
 had seized it by the brim, and restored it to the old man, 
 with his own head uncovered. 
 
 The whole occurrence had occupied scarcely three 
 minutes, but it was hours before Margaret could quiet 
 herself. 
 
 "Oh, the shamefulness of it!" she cried, hovering 
 protectingly over her grandfather, when he was once 
 more seated in his armchair. "If it had been Ben or 
 Burt it would have been different ; but to put such an 
 indignity on you ! O grandpa ! grandpa ! How can we 
 help hating such an enemy one who could treat so 
 brutally your dear white head?" And then she drew 
 the head to the hollow of her shoulder, and smoothed the
 
 A RUTHLESS SWORD THRUST. 2? I 
 
 snowy locks with hands that were still trembling, and, 
 between her sobs, rained kisses on the placid forehead. 
 
 " Nay, nay, child, we can better afford to pity him. 
 There is a day of reckoning coming for all such. I 
 would, though, that he had used a little more care in his 
 sword thrust." And the old man took up his hat, and 
 inspected ruefully a long slash in the crown. " But it s 
 a clean cut; we ll thank him for that." 
 
 "Thank him!" cried Margaret, examining the rent 
 with wide-eyed horror. " Grandpa! Think if he had 
 struck it a half-inch lower ! " And again the white head 
 was enfolded in the motherly young arms. 
 
 A few minutes later Ben coming in reported that Ma 
 jor Cochrane had been riding through the village with 
 some of the young officers from Southampton ; and when 
 Margaret described the ruffian who had so insulted her 
 grandfather, he cried out hotly, 
 
 " Why, twas Cochrane himself, the wretch ! Tell you 
 what, Meg, such things make a fellow s blood boil." 
 
 " And to think, Ben," she went on, when his temper 
 had somewhat cooled, "that not content with turning 
 private houses into barracks, General Tryon, it is said, 
 is intending to take the Southampton church for a sta 
 ble. Dear old Priest White ! lie has preached from 
 that pulpit for over fifty years, and it will break his 
 heart to see the place so desecrated." And then the 
 overwrought nerves gave way ; and with her face in 
 her hands, she sobbed aloud.
 
 2/2 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 A BRAVE SHEPHERDESS. 
 
 TAPPILY, before General Tryon s godless project 
 JLJL concerning the church could be carried out, Sir 
 William Erskine was put in command of the troops at 
 Southampton ; and being a man that feared the Lord, 
 and respected the rights of his fellowmen, he straight 
 way cancelled his predecessor s orders. 
 
 But the people were still largely at the mercy of the 
 soldiers, and as the winter wore on a new danger began 
 to threaten them ; for the demands of the enemy for for 
 age were so frequent and so heavy that they were obliged 
 to put their own stock, the little that they could call their 
 own, on short allowances. 
 
 "If it should be as hard a winter as we sometimes 
 have," said Captain Mulford, "the poor beasts will be 
 in danger of starving before spring." 
 
 " Like as not it will be," answered Olin Dole. " The 
 smelts in them hogs they butchered at Hunttin s last 
 week looked a good eal that w r ay, an I never see the 
 squirrels layin in more nuts n they did this fall. The 
 corn husks, too, if you remember, was laid on thicker n 
 hair on a coon ; an I ve heard Uncle Joe King over to 
 Southold say t was jus the same in 1740, an that winter
 
 A BRAVE SHEPHERDESS. 2/3 
 
 twas so cold that it was all froze over between Gardi 
 ner s Island and Fireplace, so t they drove a lot of cattle 
 across on the ice." 
 
 "Yes, I remember that winter," said the captain, 
 "God grant we may never have another like it." 
 
 "Well, if the signs amount to anything, it s goin to 
 be a tough one," persisted Olin. And so accustomed 
 had the people become to foreboding evil that no one 
 had the courage to pit a hopeful word against this dreary 
 forecast. 
 
 4 
 
 But for once the squirrels proved over-provident, and 
 even in the divination concerning the hogs smelts the 
 oracle was at fault ; for though the earlier part of the 
 winter brought weather that culminated a few days be 
 fore Christmas in one of the severest snowstorms ever 
 known at the East End, by the first week in February 
 the frost was out of the ground, and the grass came on 
 so rapidly that the cattle the few that were left 
 were soon turned out to graze. 
 
 But while this kindly providence was the salvation of 
 the stock, it involved incessant watchfulness ; and from 
 the time the animals were driven to pasture in the morn 
 ing till they came lowing home at nightfall, some one 
 had to stand guard. Usually this task fell to the boys ; 
 and Ben though Snowball was the only one that re 
 mained of the Thurstons herds, and their sheep were at 
 pasture on the Osgood farm never shirked his turn ; 
 but sometimes it chanced that he was needed elsewhere, 
 and his grandfather would volunteer to take his place. 
 
 "It is a cruel shame, grandpa, for one like you to
 
 2/4 A ^ ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 have to do such work," protested Margaret, as she 
 tucked in his muffler one windy afternoon. 
 
 "Tut! tut!" said the old man, giving her a kiss. 
 " Better men than thy grandfather, little one, have been 
 cattle-tenders. There was Cgedmon, remember, who, 
 with his flocks browsing about him, dreamed out a song 
 whose echo was an inspiration to blind Milton. And 
 hast thou forgotten him who while tending his sheep 
 first learned to sing, The Lord is my shepherd ?" 
 
 "But David and Casdmon were not old and gray- 
 headed," said the girl to herself, as she saw him give a 
 little shiver on facing the wind. And then, seized with 
 the fear that some evil might befall him, she snatched 
 from behind the entry door the old army cloak, and 
 pulled on a pair of Ben s cowhide boots. 
 
 " Grandaddy, I m afraid, would think it a very un- 
 maidenly thing to do," she whispered to the strange- 
 looking creature that she saw reflected in the little 
 mirror that in its narrow black frame hung, slanting for 
 ward, over the keeping-room mantel-piece. But when 
 she had massed her curls on the top of her head, and 
 crowded over them one of Ben s old slouch-brimmed 
 hats, the effect was so comical that she laughed out 
 right, and for the moment half forgot her burdens. 
 
 It was baking-day, and Prudence and Magar were in 
 the kitchen ; even little Rick was nowhere to be seen, 
 and she slipped out unnoticed. The street was as silent 
 as a church aisle at midnight it was seldom otherwise 
 than silent nowadays, except when the soldiers were on 
 their raids and drawing the cloak collar up to her
 
 A BRAVE SHEPHERDESS. 2?$ 
 
 ears she walked off boldly, swinging a stout stick that 
 she had picked up at the woodpile. 
 
 But when she had gone a few rods she left the road, 
 and letting down a pair of bars, hurried "cross lots" 
 at as fast a gait as Ben s roomy boots would permit ; and 
 though they seemed like clogs, growing heavier at every 
 step, she succeeded in reaching the pasture ahead of her 
 grandfather. 
 
 Tom Davis had been on duty ; and seeing from the 
 Other side of the enclosure that some one had come to 
 relieve him, he rushed away without stopping to waste 
 words. 
 
 Presently the old man came within speaking distance. 
 
 "What, Ben! here, after all?" he called, on catch 
 ing sight of Margaret. The girl, without answering, 
 made haste to widen the space between them. Ben so 
 often wore the cloak and hat that she knew that if she 
 could keep at a reasonable distance there was no danger 
 of her being recognized. 
 
 Though the air still held a reminiscence of winter, 
 the privet was beginning to take on a fresher tint, and 
 the willows along the edge of the pond already wore 
 a delicate gold-green flush ; gray gulls hovering above 
 the sand-dunes called shrilly to their mates, and now and 
 then a bluebird lilting down would balance himself on 
 some slender spray, and pour forth his caressing notes. 
 All nature seemed to be prophesying new life and new 
 joy ; and in spite of the ever-present anxiety, the young 
 heart was quick to respond. The war could not last 
 forever. Peace was surely on its way ; and pacing back
 
 276 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 and forth, she lost herself in a dream of the day when 
 war should be no more. 
 
 At the other end of the pasture her grandfather was 
 keeping up a brisk walk to guard against the cold. 
 
 " I m glad he thinks I m Ben," she said, coming back 
 to a consciousness of her surroundings. 
 
 But Snowball knew her in spite of her disguise, and 
 halting now and again to crop a mouthful of grass, came 
 lowing to meet her. And when her mistress had patted 
 the great white head, and called her a beauty and a dar 
 ling, she doubled her knees under her with a sigh of 
 content, and began to chew her cud or was it a sigh 
 of regret, Margaret wondered, for the lost delights of 
 Montauk? Beautiful Montauk ! beautiful, but desolate, 
 like a mother bereft of her children, with the happy herds 
 and flocks no longer feeding by the still waters, or wan 
 dering at will over the quiet meadows and bree/y up 
 lands. How long ago seemed that fair June day that 
 she had spent there with Betty and Lodowick ! O Lodo- 
 wick I Lodowick ! 
 
 Then her truant thoughts returned to her grandfather. 
 There was no need of his staying. She was not in the 
 least afraid of the cattle, for there were no vicious ones 
 amc::g them ; and as for the enemy, she would far 
 rather take the risk of their coming than have him risk 
 
 O 
 
 taking cold. 
 
 "You d better go back, grandpa ! " she shouted, mak 
 ing her voice as much like Ben s as possible. 
 
 And the old man, beginning to feel chilled, started for 
 the bars without a question.
 
 A BRAVE SHEPHERDESS. 
 
 "I m afraid he will think I have erred from the 
 truth when he iinds out that I am not Ben," she said, as 
 he vanished over the hill. And, with a new sense of 
 responsibility, she -began her watch again. 
 
 For an hour or two everything went monotonously 
 well. The cattle were all within sight, some still brows 
 ing, while others, following Snowball s example, had 
 gone to ruminating. A wind from the sea was blowing 
 across the meadow, bending all the tree-tops landward, 
 the bluebird had ended his song, and the air was taking 
 on a keener edge. 
 
 The girl drew her cloak closer, and quickened her 
 walk. She was glad that the afternoon was almost over, 
 but simply because it was so tiresome ; there was noth 
 ing that a child need be afraid of. But suddenly she 
 was startled with the sound of fast-ridden horses. A 
 clump of young oaks that had not yet shed the last 
 year s leaves was close at hand, and she had scarcely 
 time to slip behind it when two men galloped up to the 
 hedge. 
 
 " Pon my word," cried one, with an oath for empha 
 sis, " a fine sight this for ungry Britons ! " 
 
 "Ay, we re in luck," answered his comrade. " We ll 
 spot a few of the best, an keep an eye out to see where 
 they re stabled for the night." 
 
 " But a bird in the and s worth two in the bush. 
 What inders our elpin ourselves without makin more 
 ado?" 
 
 This suggestion was promptly agreed to ; but before 
 either of them could dismount, the young herder pushed
 
 2/8 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 out from her covert far enough to let her hat be seen, 
 and raising her stick to her shoulder, took a rifleman s 
 aim. 
 
 " Hold ! " she cried. "Whoever touches one of this 
 herd does it at his peril." It was a resolute voice that 
 challenged them, and in their amazement they took no 
 note of its quality. More than one rebel might be hid 
 den behind those bushy oaks ; and with a discretion for 
 which Margaret gave devout thanks, they wheeled about, 
 and dashed off in the direction of Fireplace. 
 
 This speedy victory was so unexpected that in the 
 reaction from the height to which she had nerved her 
 self she felt for a moment faint and dazed ; but her keen 
 sense of the ludicrous soon got the better of this weak 
 ness, and she laughed till the tears came. 
 
 "Oh, the brave Britons!" she scoffed; "armed to 
 the teeth, and frightened by a girl ! It is too good to 
 keep to myself. I shall have to tell grandpa ; and I am 
 quite sure he will enjoy it, it is so long since he has had 
 anything to laugh over. And he does so enjoy a laugh, 
 the dear old grandad ! " 
 
 By the time she had sobered herself she heard Patsy 
 Lumley calling to her little red cow, " Posy ! come, 
 Posy!" And soon others were shouting, "Spot," and 
 " Whiteface," and " Brindle ; " and most of them had 
 started homeward before she remembered to warn 
 them. 
 
 " There are redcoats in the neighborhood," she called, 
 "and they are threatening to steal the sheep and cattle; 
 so make sure that your stable-doors are well fastened,"
 
 A BRAVE SHEPHERDESS. 279 
 
 "Eh, Miss Marg et?" cried Patsy. "I thought for 
 sartain twas Ben." 
 
 " Run along, Patsy, and carry the word," said Mar 
 garet, dropping behind Snowball. 
 
 But Patsy, having delegated Sally Jessup to tell the 
 others, kept beside Margaret ; and the two were walk 
 ing hand in hand, with Snowball and Posy ambling on 
 before, when they met Ben. 
 
 "Hi, Meg, that you?" he cried. "Grandpa thought 
 fee left me tending the cattle, and I don t wonder. I d 
 almost mistake you myself." 
 
 Meg laughed. She was longing to tell him her ad 
 venture, but Patsy had large ears, and she had no wish 
 to have the exploit get abroad ; so she contented herself 
 with informing him of the rumor that cattle thieves were 
 in the neighborhood. 
 
 But she told her grandfather. 
 
 "Thou wilt not get another chance to cheat thy 
 grandsire in that way, little one," he said. "A brave 
 sight it must have been. I would I had been there." 
 But he broke off in the midst of his laugh. "Ah, but 
 if they had harmed one hair of thy head, child ! " he 
 cried, putting his arm about her. 
 
 " Oh, they had no eyes for anything but the cattle," 
 she said lightly, giving him a good-night kiss. 
 
 As she was crossing the entry the door opened noise 
 lessly, and Miss Mehitable Hand stepped in. Patsy, she 
 said, had been telling her of the danger that threatened 
 the cattle, and she had run over to propose keeping 
 watch.
 
 280 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "Oh! if you think that necessary," said Margaret, 
 " Ben and Timothy can sit up." 
 
 "No, no; don t disturb the men-folks," protested 
 Mehitable. "They mind losing their sleep a good deal 
 more than we women do. Besides, they ll think us such 
 cowards. My idea is that a candle or two kept burning 
 might help to scare off the marauders ; and if you ll 
 watch the first half of the night, I ll watch the second. 
 When you see my candle in the window you can know 
 that I m up and ready to give the alarm." 
 
 "Do you mean to fire a gun?" asked Margaret, 
 amused at the absurdity of two lone women Irving to 
 protect the village. 
 
 "No; I shall ring the big dinner-bell, and shout fire 
 at the pitch of my voice." And with her bubbling little 
 laugh she slipped out as noiselessly as she had entered. 
 
 Margaret fastened the door, and went into the kitchen. 
 It was early, but Prudence had already covered the lire 
 and gone to bed. Ben, too, had vanished. She hov 
 ered a moment over the hearth, for the night was chilly, 
 and then, wrapping herself in the old army cloak, sat 
 down by the window. But her thoughts were a-wing. 
 Where were her father and Lodowick? Were they still 
 languishing in prison ? Or had they escaped that hor 
 ror only to fall in battle? Oh, to know ! to know ! 
 
 The night wore on without bringing any alarm. It 
 was almost time to look for Mehitable s light. Suddenly 
 she heard voices and the tramp of heavy feet. The 
 next instant she had blown out the candle she had a 
 feeling that it might prove more of an attraction than
 
 A BRAVE SHEPHERDESS. 28 1 
 
 a safeguard and with her white face pressed to the 
 window, stood staring into the street. The moon was 
 beating off a squadron of clouds, and with its friendly 
 help she discerned a body of soldiers marching past. 
 They kept well to the middle of the road, and showed no 
 intention of turning. They were not coming there, at 
 all events ; and her heart began to beat less nervously. 
 But there was no telling on what mischievous errand 
 they were bent. The people ought to be roused. She 
 thought of the dinner-bell ; but to wake them up with 
 that she would have to ring it at every house. If she 
 could only reach the church, with one peal from the 
 belfry she could rouse the entire village. She drew 
 the cloak over her head, and unbolted the door with 
 wary hand. The men were marching toward the lower 
 end of the village ; and while she hesitated, they van 
 ished behind the windmill. And now she went flying 
 down the street. The moon was no longer shining ; the 
 clouds for the moment had gained the mastery, and for 
 that she was thankful. The church was no doubt 
 locked ; but she knew where a key was always to be 
 found in case any one needed to give an alarm, and at 
 last she was inside the door. She groped her way to 
 the belfry; and now she had climbed the narrow stairs, 
 and was tugging at the rope. One warning peal and 
 the whole village would be awake ! She bent all her 
 strength to the task ; but the ponderous bell was not 
 easily moved, and before the iron tongue responded, 
 a man s hands roughly grasped her wrists.
 
 282 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 IN HIDING. 
 
 A /f ARGARET, in her sudden fright, came very near 
 IV J. screaming. 
 
 " Sh sh ! " cautioned her captor. "Don t you 
 know me, Meg?" 
 
 " Ben ! But why do you stop me? " she cried. 
 
 "Why? Because that s the very way to bring them 
 back. They took the Nor west road, and are half a 
 mile away by this time ; but with one clang of the bell 
 they d face about quicker n lightning." 
 
 " But how did you know I was here ?" 
 
 " Oh ! that s easily explained," said Ben, who, having 
 taken possession of the rope, was letting the bell fall so 
 gradually into place that it made no sound. "I hap 
 pened to hear you and Miss Hermitable discussing the 
 case, and I thought I d better sit up too ; and when I 
 saw you scudding across the street, I started after you 
 to see what you were going to do." 
 
 " But, Ben, the people ought to be warned in some 
 way," she insisted. 
 
 "What for? If the men had meant to do any harm 
 here they wouldn t have marched straight through ; and 
 I don t see any use in waking everybody up just to tell
 
 IN HIDING. 283 
 
 em that half a dozen soldiers have gone over to Nor - 
 west." 
 
 Margaret was not altogether convinced, but she fol 
 lowed him down in silence. 
 
 "There isn t hide nor hair to be seen of em," he 
 said, scanning the dusky street in both directions as 
 they came out. 
 
 But Margaret, now that the danger was past, had no 
 courage left. 
 
 * " Oh, make haste!" she cried. "You don t know 
 how soon they may be back ; " and Ben found it a hard 
 matter to keep up with her. 
 
 The clock was striking twelve when they reached the 
 house, and on the last stroke a light flashed from Miss 
 Mehitable s window. 
 
 "/ ;;/ going to bed," said Ben. " I ve lost sleep 
 enough for one night." And Margaret, spent with the 
 day s unaccustomed tasks, decided to do the same ; but 
 not till she had relighted her candle, to let Mehitable 
 know that she had seen hers. She drew aside the cur 
 tain first for a look outside ; but in her absence the shut 
 ter had swung to, and she had to open the window to 
 throw it back. As she leaned out, a man leaped over the 
 hedge, and before she could close the sash he had his 
 hand on the sill. 
 
 "Quick, let me in!" he cried in a muffled voice. 
 " The redcoats are on my track." 
 
 At that Ben, who had waited to make sure that Mar 
 garet was not going to sit up any longer, unceremoni 
 ously pulled her away and took her place.
 
 284 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Uncle John ! " gasped the girl. 
 
 "Hush ! " he whispered, as with Ben s help he clam 
 bered in. " Cap n Foster landed me at Nor west; and 
 just after he put me ashore, two straggling redcoats 
 caught sight of me and gave chase. I thought at first 
 that there was no hope of escape, but when we reached 
 the woods I managed to outwit them by taking a cross 
 cut. I m afraid, though, that they are not far behind ; 
 and half a mile back they were joined by some of their 
 comrades, I judged by their shouts." 
 
 "Hark, they are coming now!" cried Ben, as the 
 sound of running feet was heard. " No, they are going 
 on," he said, pushing aside the curtain far enough for 
 one eye to command the street. "Guess they ve seen 
 the light at the Hands ." 
 
 " Oh, but they ll be back ! " cried Margaret. " Slip 
 off your shoes, Uncle John." And leaving Ben on 
 guard, she hurried the old soldier up-stairs, having 
 chanced at the moment to remember the attic closet. 
 The moon, shining in at the dormer-window, gave all 
 the light that was necessary. 
 
 " Would any one think of looking here, Uncle John? " 
 she asked anxiously, as she showed him the hiding- 
 place. 
 
 "I don t know, Meg. I m sure I shouldn t," he an 
 swered, putting his somewhat bulky person with as little 
 noise as possible through the narrow opening. "Pretty 
 close fit for me." It was, indeed; but Margaret was 
 too sorely troubled to think of laughing at the spec 
 tacle he made.
 
 IN HIDING. 285 
 
 "Now," she charged, slipping the board into place, 
 " remember you are not to speak nor move until I come 
 to let you out." 
 
 Down-stairs she found Ben still at the window. 
 
 "Oh, go to bed, Ben!" she whispered. "You are 
 tired out. I ll call you if you re wanted." 
 
 " Not a bit of it," said Ben stoutly. "You can go 
 yourself. I m bound to see this thing through." 
 
 But Margaret was too excited to think of shutting her 
 eyes. Besides, the prisoner in the attic had had nothing 
 to eat. And while Ben continued to keep a lookout, she 
 managed to smuggle up a generous supply of food and 
 drink. 
 
 The remainder of the night passed without disturb 
 ance, and Margaret began to feel that the danger was 
 over. But in the morning, as the family were leaving 
 the breakfast-table, two redcoats appeared at the door, 
 and demanded to know whether a rebel soldier had 
 taken refuge there. Margaret and Ben held their peace, 
 with their hearts in their mouths ; and before the old 
 Quaker could speak, Prudence, proclaiming herself a 
 loyal subject of King George, declared emphatically 
 that no one had entered the house ; and while her parrot 
 screamed, " God save the King ! " she sweetly asked the 
 strangers to be seated and have some breakfast. The 
 men accepted this invitation with greediness ; and while 
 they were being served, Margaret improved the oppor 
 tunity to fly to the attic. 
 
 " Are you able to breathe in there, Uncle John? " she 
 asked in a whisper.
 
 286 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "Ay, ay, child, there are plenty of air-holes; and 
 here is something that I forgot to give you last night, 
 though to see that you got it safely was chiefly what I 
 came for for that, and to get money for our men." 
 And through a crevice near the floor he slipped a crum 
 pled letter. She caught it up with a quick cry, and ran 
 to the window. But before she could break the seal, 
 she heard her aunt climbing the stairs. 
 
 "Don t speak," she whispered. "Aunt Prudence is 
 coming." 
 
 There was no way of escape, and she hastily hid the 
 letter in her bosom. At the same instant a burst of 
 martial music came up from the street, and looking 
 down she saw a blaze of scarlet uniforms. All the men 
 were mounted, and the fear that their coming was con 
 nected with her uncle dismayed her. But there was 
 her aunt. 
 
 " Come see the show, Aunt Prudence ! " she cried. 
 
 "What! you up here?" exclaimed Prudence, sud 
 denly perceiving the slender figure at the window. But 
 she was in too much haste to give any attention to what 
 was going on outside. One of her guests was afflicted 
 with chills, and she had prescribed a course of herb 
 tea. 
 
 " One doesn t need to come to the attic to see what is 
 going on in the street," she said in a bristling tone ; 
 and having selected her simples, she hurried down. 
 Margaret listened until she was sure that she had 
 reached the ground floor before venturing to take out 
 her letter. It was from Lodowick, with u message
 
 IN HIDING. 287 
 
 from her father ; and by the time that she had read the 
 first line, she knew that the rumor concerning them was 
 true. They had both been captured on board the priva 
 teer, and were still prisoners. But " prisoners of hope," 
 Lodowick wrote bravely ; for being officers, they felt con 
 fident that an exchange would soon be effected. But 
 brave as he was, he could not still his heart s cry, " O 
 love, love! when will this brutal warfare end?" Mar 
 garet pressed her lips to the words. 
 
 4" O love, love ! " her heart repeated. But her uncle 
 was asking through the crevice the meaning of the tu 
 mult on the street, and she flew down to investigate. 
 Ben met her in the entry. 
 
 " It s a party of British officers," he explained ex 
 citedly, " moving over from Southampton. General 
 Clinton s arrived there with seven or eight hundred 
 men, and there wasn t room for all of em." 
 
 Margaret returned to the attic feeling somewhat easier. 
 Still, the presence of this company of officers, she knew 
 very well, was not likely to lessen the risk that her 
 uncle was incurring. She had already taken her grand 
 father into her confidence ; and when in the afternoon 
 Prudence went out to discuss the new arrival with some 
 of her neighbors, the old Quaker mounted to the attic, 
 and with Margaret standing guard on the landing, re 
 moved the innocent-looking board, and clasped his son 
 in his arms. 
 
 Captain Foster had agreed that if he found the road 
 stead clear he would come to anchor in the creek that 
 evening, and soon after dinner Ben stole off to recon-
 
 288 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 noitre. He wore the old army cloak ; and at nightfall 
 the cloak passed out the gate again. But the wearer 
 now was John Thurston, and he carried under its friendly 
 folds two hundred dollars in gold. 
 
 "See here, Meg," said Ben, "I m not going to let 
 him go away down there alone. I ll stop for Burt, and 
 we ll follow along to see that he gets there all right/ 
 And shouldering his old duck-gun, he slipped out, and 
 took the road for Nor west Creek. 
 
 It was past midnight when Margaret, keeping her 
 patient watch, heard his cautious step on the porch. 
 She started up eagerly. 
 
 "Safe?" she whispered as she let him in. But he 
 made no answer ; and when they reached the keeping- 
 room, where the candle was burning, she saw that he 
 was deathly white. 
 
 "O Meg!" he cried, sinking down on the settle, 
 "Meg, they ve captured him!" 
 
 Margaret dropped down beside him in dismayed si 
 lence. 
 
 " Burt and I ran nearly all the way," he said, brokenly ; 
 "but he was most to the creek before we overtook him. 
 It was flood tide. A small boat, manned by three sailors, 
 had just pulled ashore ; and supposing that it belonged 
 to Cap n Foster s sloop, Uncle John hurried ahead. 
 Just then we discovered by the light of the moon that 
 they were redcoats ; and Burt and I made a dash to help 
 him, but they hauled him in, and took to their oars. 
 And to think that they were scarcely out of sight when 
 Cap n Foster himself came rowing up the creek ! O
 
 IN HIDING. 289 
 
 Meg, it s dreadful ; but the cap n promised to do his 
 best to rescue him, and perhaps we d better not tell 
 grandpa yet a while." 
 
 " No, not while there is any room for hope," said the 
 girl, despairingly.
 
 290 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 A GENUINE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN. 
 
 IT was soon known in the village that the new-comers 
 had established themselves in Colonel Gardiner s 
 house. It was a goodly company. There was that 
 courtly and kindly gentleman Sir William Erskine, and 
 his fiery young aide-de-camp Lord Percy, together with 
 Lord Cathcart and several other scions of titled stock ; 
 and the colonel under other circumstances would have 
 felt honored in having them for guests. 
 
 Priest Buell had already made the acquaintance of 
 several of the officers ; and feeling that it was wiser to 
 conciliate them personally, than to antagonize them, he 
 treated them from the first with the courtesy due from 
 one gentleman to another. 
 
 " He knows what he s about," commented Silas Post. 
 
 And indeed the little minister, with the wisdom of the 
 serpent and the harmlessness of the dove, knew very 
 well what he was about. He had always a rare faculty 
 for making friends ; and with his genial disposition, his 
 quickness at repartee, and his inimitable way of telling 
 a story, he was one of the pleasantest of companions for 
 young and old. Besides, he had a fondness for the chase 
 quite equal to that of the most English of the English ;
 
 A GENUINE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN. 29 1 
 
 and Sir William Erskine, having discovered the fact, 
 often invited him to join his party on their hunting expe 
 ditions. It chanced that on one of these occasions the 
 minister was detained until past the hour appointed for 
 the meet, and on reaching headquarters he found most 
 of the younger officers already in the saddle ; but Sir 
 William at once, with characteristic courtesy, requested 
 them to dismount to receive him. He had not till then 
 met Lord Percy ; and after the introduction, he chanced 
 id inquire of his lordship what part of his Majesty s 
 troops he had the honor to command. 
 
 The young aide-de-camp, irritated by the delay and 
 the order to dismount, was impatiently pacing the floor. 
 
 "A legion of devils just from hell," he answered curtly. 
 
 " Then I suppose I have the honor to address Beelze 
 bub, the prince of devils," responded Priest Buell with 
 a profound bow. 
 
 In his wrath at this unexpected retort, Lord Percy, 
 with a very unlordly malediction, started to draw his 
 sword ; but a word from Sir William brought him to his 
 senses, and long before the chase was over, Priest Buell 
 had won his lasting friendship. 
 
 With Sir William he soon became a prime favorite ; 
 and this amicable state of affairs between their pastor and 
 those in power often served the people in good stead. 
 
 "Things are bad enough, the Lord knows ; but they d 
 be a sight wuss if twasn t for Priest Buell," said Silas 
 
 CT 
 
 Post, when through the mediation of the plucky little 
 parson some of the requirements of the enemy too griev 
 ous to be borne had been brought within reason. But
 
 29 2 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 this influence was never obtained at a sacrifice of his 
 Whig principles ; for of these he made no concealment, 
 and when occasion required he was equally fearless in 
 asserting his own authority. 
 
 "Sir William Erskine is a genuine English gentle 
 man," he said, while calling one morning on Margaret 
 and her grandfather. "If England would only send 
 us a few more of the same stamp, the quarrel would 
 soon be ended." 
 
 "Provided they acknowledged our independence," 
 said Margaret, quickly. 
 
 " Surely not without that proviso, little patriot/ re 
 sponded Priest Buell ; " and men of that sort would not 
 long withhold the acknowledgment. At heart Sir Wil 
 liam, I am confident, is fully in sympathy with the colo 
 nies. But I must be going. Put on vour hat, child, 
 and go home with me. Jerusha is there. And you too, 
 Friend Thurston. The walk will do you good." 
 
 "Thank thee, Friend Buell," said the old Quaker, 
 rising at once ; for he saw that Margaret was eager to 
 o, and that settled it. 
 
 O 
 
 They had scarely left the house when thev met Sir 
 William himself, accompanied by his aide-de-camp ; and 
 when the two had lifted their hats, with courtly defer 
 ence including Margaret in the greeting, Sir William 
 asked Priest Buell to tarry a moment. lie had been 
 looking for him, he said, to let him know that he had 
 ordered the people of his parish to appear the next day 
 (Sunday) with their teams at Southampton. 
 
 " Pardon me, Sir William," answered the minister,
 
 A GENUINE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN. 293 
 
 with a twinkle in his pleasant eyes, "I was already 
 aware of the order ; but for to-morrow I claim the pre 
 cedence as commander-in-chief, and have taken the lib 
 erty to countermand it." Whereupon the general, with 
 a hearty English laugh, acknowledged himself out 
 ranked for the day, and gave directions to have the 
 revocation confirmed. 
 
 "It s roisterin times they re havin at Hunttin s," re 
 marked Silas Post, the next afternoon, leaning over the 
 hi dge for a word with Margaret, who was searching for 
 signs of bloom in her daffodil beds. " I happened in 
 there las night, an there was a dozen or more of em 
 settin roun the fireplace, spinnin yarns, an drinkin 
 down their flip, with a red-hot poker in it to set it 
 a-foamin . Eh, but they re a pleasure-levin crew ! 
 Yisterd y they s over to the Manor huntin deer, an to- 
 morrer they re goin on a fox hunt. They d ought to 
 come bout twenty years sooner, if they wanted to find 
 foxes. I ve heard Uncle Joe King, over to Southold, 
 tell about killin five in one day, an takin em home on 
 his back he s an awful powerful man, you know; 
 but they re ruther skerce now, an I guess the deer ain t 
 none too plenty." 
 
 "And those at the Manor are so tame," said Marga 
 ret, standing up with her trowel in her hand. "It s a 
 shame to harm them, they have always been so kindly 
 treated." 
 
 "That s so; they ain t much use to the sound o 
 guns," Silas assented. 
 
 " Talkin about deer," he said to himself, reluctantly
 
 294 ^ N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 hobbling on, Margaret having turned back to her flower 
 beds; "she s one herself. Them eyes o hers al ays 
 mind me of a doe s." 
 
 Meanwhile there had been another wedding at the 
 parsonage. It was a quiet home wedding, with none of 
 the romance of youth about it, the bride being Mrs. 
 Jerusha Buell Gardiner, and the groom Mr. Isaac Con- 
 kling of Amagansett. But a wedding under any cir 
 cumstances makes a ripple of excitement ; and as the 
 matronly bride was beloved by every one, the entire com 
 munity took a lively interest in the event. 
 
 But to Margaret the marriage brought a heartache ; 
 for though she had a high regard for Mr. Isaac Con- 
 kling, she could not help feeling a little jealous of him 
 for having won her friend. 
 
 "It will never be the same again," she said, sorrow 
 fully. 
 
 "Oh, fy, fy, deary," chided Jerusha; "changing 
 one s name doesn t change one s heart. And Amagan 
 sett is only three miles away." 
 
 But Margaret thought of David Gardiner and of Lodo- 
 wick, and wondered in her loyal young soul how it was 
 possible for a woman to forget her first love.
 
 A MAY DAY IDYL. 295 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 A MAY DAY IDYL. 
 
 T1ETTY OSGOOD walked in one day carrying a bas- 
 -L* ket of flax, and behind her came Burt with her 
 spinning-wheel on his shoulder. 
 
 The day was one of those avant-coureurs of summer 
 that sometimes steal a march on June, and after dinner 
 Margaret proposed their going out on the grass-plot to 
 spin. 
 
 "There is always a breeze in the afternoon on the 
 west side of the house," she said; and as she had not 
 finished her wool rolls, she called to Hagar to come help 
 her take out the large wheel. But Hagar was not in 
 the kitchen. 
 
 "I kin he p yo , my girl," cried Rick, who, though 
 fast growing into a sturdy lad, still persisted in calling 
 Margaret by the name he had given her when he first 
 began to toddle. And when, with the aid of his willing 
 arms, the wheel was finally in place beneath the big 
 buttonball-tree, he went to turning somersets. But tir 
 ing at last of this trite pastime, he mounted the gate in 
 the opening between the high palings, and with his back 
 to the road, for the purpose of keeping his young mis 
 tress in sight, " made believe " that he was on horseback.
 
 296 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 The girls were giving all their attention to their 
 work. 
 
 " I want to have these ready to reel off on the swifts 
 before night," said Margaret, as, having fastened a 
 fresh roll on the spindle, she took up her wheel-pin; 
 " and every knot is to go into socks for our soldiers." 
 
 Before she could set her wheel in motion again, a 
 man s voice was heard on the other side of the paling. 
 
 " Egad ! the fates favor us. Here ith prethithly what 
 we want for a thkullion for our meth. Hi, you little 
 black imp ! " 
 
 Then came a shriek from Rick, who, with his arms 
 pinioned behind him, was striking out vigorously with 
 his legs at his unseen foe. 
 
 " Here, th-thop that bellowin , or you ll get your ear 
 thliced off ! " threatened his captor. 
 
 Betty started up with a white face. 
 
 " O Margaret ! " she cried. 
 
 But Margaret, who had sprung to the gate with her 
 wheel-pin in her hand, stood facing the intruder like a 
 queen with her sceptre. 
 
 " Let the child go," she commanded, " or I ll report 
 you to General Erskine." 
 
 "Oho!" jeered the man with a bold stare at the 
 lovely face. 
 
 " Wretch ! how dare you? " demanded a voice behind 
 him ; and with the suddenness of a thunder-bolt a horse 
 whip snapped across his back. 
 
 Just then from the garden beyond the grass-plot the 
 old Quaker pressed forward, and with him Priest Buell.
 
 A MAY DAY IDYL. 297 
 
 The latter had been inspecting the bee-hives, and he 
 held in his hand a fragment of honeycomb. 
 
 " Ah, Sir William, this is a timeous arrival," he said 
 to the owner of the horsewhip ; while Rick, finding him 
 self released, scrambled over the gate, and took refuge 
 beside Margaret. 
 
 "It is an untimeous arrival for this scoundrel," an 
 swered Sir William. " Here," he called to some of his 
 men, who were close behind him, " take him to the Bas- 
 trle. 1 When I am at leisure I will attend to him." 
 
 As he gave the order, he was joined by his aide-de 
 camp, Lord Percy, and two young men, whom he intro 
 duced as Lieutenant Burton and Major Andre. At the 
 same moment Silas Post stopped at the gate. 
 
 " Come in, friends, come in," said the old Quaker, 
 with simple and impartial hospitality. 
 
 Sir William accepted the invitation with a frank 
 expression of pleasure, and the three young officers 
 promptly followed his example. But Silas, who had 
 halted merely to see what the disturbance was, strode 
 on with a shrug. 
 
 " It s well enough for the parson to be friendly with 
 em," he muttered; "but there ain t any call for their 
 bein invited to folks houses." 
 
 " I am sorry not to be able to give you the right hand 
 of fellowship," said Priest Buell, with a smile; "but 
 Friend Thurston has been treating me to a sample of the 
 products of his hives." 
 
 "But thy friends can treat us to something better," 
 
 l This " Bastile " was Colonel Gardiner s attic.
 
 298 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 responded the white-haired host; " for doth not the old 
 riddle say that Pleasant discourse is sweeter than honey 
 to the soul, and a medicine to the bones ?" 
 
 "A medicine that we poor exiles are sorely in need 
 of," said Sir William, with a sigh. "And thou art a 
 lover of bees, friend? Truly I envy thee the leisure to 
 indulge the liking. Would God this odious war were 
 ended, and we were back in old England, listening to 
 the hum of the bees in the heather. But," bowing with 
 grave courtesy to Margaret and Betty, " w r e must crave 
 the pardon of these fair spinners for the start that villain 
 gave them, and for our own intrusion on their privacy." 
 
 The "fair spinners" accepted the apology with the 
 graceful dignity of gentlewomen, and were about to 
 withdraw ; but Lord Percy and his companions adroitly 
 frustrated this intention by engaging them at once in 
 conversation. They were all young, and with the affin 
 ity of youth for youth they soon forgot that they were 
 enemies. 
 
 To the young men the spinning-wheels \vere mysteries 
 of absorbing interest ; and presently Margaret, with 
 stately step, was demonstrating the process by which the 
 fleecy roll attached to the spindle was converted into 
 yarn. And then Betty \vas ingenuously entreated to 
 show them how to spin flax. 
 
 And while this \vas going on, Dame Prudence, well 
 pleased in having guests of such distinction to wait on, 
 came bustling out, bringing a tray of seed-cakes ; and 
 behind her was Hagar, bearing a tankard of home 
 brewed beer, and a supply of mugs and glasses.
 
 A MAY DAY IDYL. 299 
 
 " It s but meagre hospitality we can offer in these dis 
 loyal days," apologized the matron. 
 
 "Ah, this is nectar and ambrosia," declared Lord 
 Percy. " One could ask for nothing better." 
 
 " Ay, we had looked for no such cheer as this," said 
 the young major; "and the best of it all is the home 
 ilavor a bouquet rarer than that of the choicest of 
 wines. It carries us back to England, and will, I am 
 sure, make us dream of our mothers and sisters." 
 
 *" And sweethearts," added Lord Percy, bowing smil 
 ingly to Margaret and Betty. 
 
 o ^/ o */ 
 
 "Yes, of our sweethearts too," assented the major, 
 blushing like a girl. 
 
 "Ah, it is an oasis in the desert," chimed in Sir 
 William; "an hour like this, to one condemned to the 
 dreariness of camp-life." 
 
 And when at last these friendly foes departed, it was 
 with a fixed purpose, on the part of the younger men at 
 least, to make the most of the invitation that Prudence 
 had pressed upon them to repeat their call ; an invitation 
 that the old Quaker had seconded in a manner which, 
 while not lacking in cordiality, left them in no doubt as 
 to who was the head of the house. 
 
 "Meg!" whispered Betty, clutching her cousin by 
 the arm as they vanished, " did you ever dream that 
 there were such men anywhere ? so handsome ! so 
 courtly ! " 
 
 " Oh, believe me, sir, 
 
 It carries a brave form, " 
 
 quoted Margaret mockingly ;
 
 300 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Nothing natural 
 
 I ever saw so noble. " 
 
 But for all that, Betty, they are our enemies." 
 
 "Ah, but they are enemies worth having," said Priest 
 Buell, catching only the last of her answer; "for while 
 they would not hesitate to bayonet us in open fight, we 
 need have no fears of their striking us in the back. As 
 for Sir William, he is a prince among men, and any 
 one who is honored with his friendship may justly be 
 proud of it." 
 
 Prudence nodded approvingly, setting all her ribbons 
 a-flutter. 
 
 "We might be proud to have any of them for our 
 friends," she said, as she took up the empty tankard. 
 
 " Nay, there is a difference, Prudence," answered 
 her father-in-law. " We should hardly care to put on 
 our list of friends the wretch who was trying to kidnap 
 little Rick." 
 
 "And what proof is there, pray, that he had any 
 thought of kidnapping him ? He doubtless wanted only 
 to frighten the child. But if he could be of any use to 
 them, why not let them have him? He is quite old 
 enough to be doing something besides turning somer 
 sets." 
 
 Rick, who having disposed of the last fragment of his 
 cake, was at that instant standing on his head, sprung up 
 with his black eyes blazing. 
 
 " I isn t a-goin wid no webcoats. I isn t goin to lebe 
 my girl. Marse Bruce he tol me to take kere o Miss 
 Marge, an I s a-goin to, I is." And catching at Mar-
 
 A MAY DAY IDYL. 3OI 
 
 garet s gown, he emphasized his declaration with a stamp 
 of his little brown foot on the grass. 
 
 Prudence frowned darkly. But Priest Buell gallantly 
 forestalled her wrath. 
 
 "Allow me, madam," he said; and having relieved 
 her of the tankard, he escorted her to the house, with 
 cordial thanks for the refreshments she had furnished. 
 " Such hospitality sometimes goes a long way toward 
 converting enemies into friends," he added with his win 
 ning smile. And Prudence, congratulating herself on 
 this clerical approval of the policy that she had adopted 
 from the beginning, made, in response to his parting 
 bow, an elaborate courtesy, with a face as smiling as 
 his own. 
 
 A day or two later a huge hamper was left at the 
 door, containing generous supplies of sugar, molasses, 
 tea, coffee, and spices ; and Prudence accepted it as the 
 just reward of her loyalty. 
 
 In the meantime Margaret had made the discovery 
 that Lieutenant Burton was the young officer who had 
 so gallantly rescued her grandfather s hat.
 
 302 AH ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 THE YOUNG MAJOR. 
 
 / T^HOSE were trying days for Lord Lion, for it was 
 J- only by stealth that Margaret could give him an 
 outing. Sometimes in the early twilight she would sta 
 tion either Ben or Rick on guard, and take two or three 
 turns in the pasture : but the amount of exercise thus 
 obtained fell far short of his lordship s need; and when 
 one morning, a day or two after the officers visit, Ben 
 reported that officers and men had gone deer-shooting 
 on Gardiner s Island, she determined to give Lion the 
 benefit of their absence. 
 
 "Are you sure that none of them have stayed be 
 hind?" she asked Ben. 
 
 " Well, I take Tobe s word for it. lie says the whole 
 kit and cargo went. Priest Buell s gone too, and he s 
 very wise. They won t do half the mischief at the 
 Manor if he s along. Tobe savs the dining-room s 
 dented from one end to the other where they ve pitched 
 quoits. And they ve helped themselves to nearly all 
 the horses that were left there. Tell you, they ve got 
 their eye on every horse in the neighborhood. Dan 
 Conklin had an order from them a few days ago for his 
 big bay ; and though Gilfillan has given him a written
 
 THE YOUNG MAJOR. 303 
 
 permit 1 to keep the horse, he s all the time in fear that 
 they ll manage to get him. They never stop to say by 
 your leave ; and I don t think it s very safe for you to go 
 riding round alone, Meg." 
 
 "Thou art right, Benjamin," said his grandfather, 
 coming into the stable in time to hear this protest. "If 
 Margaret is going to ride, thou canst saddle Vic." 
 
 " And go with her?" asked Ben quickly. 
 
 The old man hesitated. He would have preferred to 
 go 4 himself , not liking to trust Margaret out of his sight ; 
 but Ben, he saw, was eager for a gallop. "On one 
 condition," he said; "and that is that thou wilt keep 
 within the village limits." 
 
 Margaret, meanwhile, finding that she had forgotten 
 her gauntlets, gave Rick leave to ride twice around the 
 barnyard while she ran in to get them. She had in 
 tended to mount in the yard ; but the boy, not knowing 
 this, slipped off at the end of the second round, and led 
 Lion out to the woodpile. 
 
 " I s goin to wait fo yo out here, my girl," he called. 
 
 But the next instant a rough hand tossed Rick aside, 
 and seized the bridle. 
 
 "Hi, dar ! " shouted Rick, picking himself up from 
 among the chips. And as the owner of the hand, a 
 man with a face as black as his own, sprung into the 
 saddle, the boy, catching hold of the crupper, leapt up 
 behind. A volley of oaths ensued ; but Lord Lion was 
 rearing and plunging, and the man had too much to do 
 
 l Both this order and Major-General Gilfillan s " permit " are in the possession 
 of a grandson of Daniel Conklin.
 
 304 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 to keep his seat to give any attention to the small monkey 
 at his back ; and by the time the others reached the 
 woodpile, the horse, with his two riders, had turned a 
 corner and was out of sight. 
 
 Just what had happened it was not at first easy to tell. 
 They had all heard the oaths ; and Margaret had not 
 only caught a glimpse of the man s face, but had seen 
 Rick scramble up behind him. 
 
 " Ben, Ben, do push after them on Vic ! " she cried in 
 desperation. "If the man wanted Lion badly enough 
 to steal him, it is not likely he will do anything to injure 
 him; but there s no telling what he will do to Rick." 
 
 " My stars, Meg! they d be half way to Jamaica be 
 fore Vic could overtake em. You know you never can 
 make him go unless he has some other horse to keep up 
 with. Probably the fellow belongs to some of the Brit 
 ish, and in that case you may as well make up your 
 mind that Rick and Lord Lion are gone for good." 
 
 " O Ben ! " cried Margaret. 
 
 " Thou rt but a poor comforter, Benjamin," said his 
 grandfather. " Lion has a mind of his own, and little 
 Rick knows his ways. Let us be patient." 
 
 At that moment Major Andre rode up to the woodpile. 
 
 " What, friend ! we thought thou hadst gone with the 
 others to the Manor?" said the old Quaker. 
 
 "It was my intention to go; but I was delayed, m\ 
 horse having had the misfortune to cast a shoe, and 
 when I reached Fireplace I found no boat there. But 
 what is troubling you?" he ventured to inquire, infer 
 ring from their faces that something was amiss.
 
 THE YOUNG MAJOR. 305 
 
 "You are quite sure that it was a black man?" he 
 asked, when the matter had been briefly explained. 
 " Had it been a soldier, I should be strongly inclined to 
 suspect that it might be Wickson, the wretch that tried 
 to kidnap your boy ; for Sir William punished him by 
 keeping him in the attic on bread and water for a whole 
 day, besides giving him thirty lashes, and I hear that 
 he has vowed to have his revenge." 
 
 " Oh, he was black ! " Margaret insisted. " I saw his 
 face very plainly." 
 
 "Why not follow them?" suggested the major, turn 
 ing to Ben. "They surely cannot have gotten far on 
 the way. Mount your horse, and let us give chase." 
 And Ben, nothing loath, now that Vic was to have a 
 comrade, sprung to the saddle ; the major s horse broke 
 into a gallop, and Vic was at once on his mettle. 
 
 But they had gone scarcely half a mile when Lord 
 Lion flashed past them, with Rick in the saddle, headed 
 for home. 
 
 " I s got him!" shouted Rick triumphantly. But 
 Lord Lion waited for nothing. 
 
 "Heaven help the youngster!" cried the major, as 
 they wheeled about. " He will do well if he gets to the 
 ground without a broken neck." 
 
 But when they drew rein at the woodpile they found 
 Rick astride the sawbuck, recounting the way in which 
 he had escaped, with Margaret and her grandfather, Mis 
 tress Prudence and " Mammy Hagar," for his audience. 
 But Prudence, not having on her best cap, vanished be 
 fore the major had a chance to recognize her.
 
 306 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "Lord Lium, jes fo we gits to Sag," said the boy, 
 " he up an pitch de man ober his ears, an den he turn 
 his head to his tail an start fo home, an all I has to do 
 is to hoi on." 
 
 "He s a plucky little chap," said the major to Mar 
 garet, who stood soothing Lord Lion ; " and as for your 
 horse, no wonder some one coveted him. But doubtless 
 it was in obedience to orders that the negro was trying 
 to capture him." 
 
 " Him wa n t no nigger. Him nuffin but a webcoat," 
 Rick declared, quirking his small nose with fine con 
 tempt. " He bery black face, but he fo git to blackum 
 up his han s." 
 
 " Oh, if that is the case," said the young major, with 
 a laugh, " we may be able to put some one on his track." 
 Then he turned again to Lord Lion. 
 
 " What a splendid animal he is ! It is easy to see that 
 he is a thoroughbred. Ah, but I love horses ! They 
 are noble creatures." And he laid his hand on his own 
 horse as if about to remount. " I am at a loss what 
 to do with myself to-day. It is too late to join the hunt, 
 and a deserted barrack is a wofully lonesome place." 
 
 "If thou hast nothing better to do, come in and tell 
 us something of old England," said the Quaker, moved 
 by the look of genuine homesickness in the handsome, 
 boyish face. 
 
 "Ah, you are kind to take pity on me," cried the 
 young man eagerly; "and you could ask no sweeter 
 service if it will not be intruding," he added, turning 
 to Margaret. But Margaret was leading away Lord
 
 THE YOUNG MAJOR. 307 
 
 Lion, for whom she was far more concerned than for 
 the young major ; and though the latter stayed for an 
 hour, entertaining her grandfather with his vivid de 
 scriptions of places and people in England, he did not 
 see her again until he had risen to go. 
 
 "It is a rare treat," he said, as if in apology for 
 having made so long a stay, "for a stranger in a 
 strange land to have a chance to talk of home." 
 
 "Ah, Margaret, thou shouldst have been here ! " cried 
 hr grandfather, his face in a glow. "Our friend has 
 visited at the old manor in Kent, and knows our kin 
 dred." And Margaret s frank regret was quite enough 
 to make the young man seat himself again though he 
 did it half unconsciously and repeat some of the de 
 scriptions. 
 
 The old Quaker listened at first with unabated inter 
 est ; but after a little he seemed to lose himself - 
 whether in sleep, or in a waking dream of the old 
 Kentish homestead, with its hop-fields and rose-gardens, 
 they knew not ; and presently the major, forgetting 
 Kent, found himself telling Margaret about his mother 
 and sisters. 
 
 " I can imagine how they miss you," she said gently ; 
 " and how they must suffer in knowing that you are ex 
 posed to the hardships and dangers of war." 
 
 "Yes, they miss me," he said; "but not as I miss 
 them." And before he could bring himself to make a 
 second break, the sympathy in the kind young eyes had 
 drawn from him the story of his lost Honor a. 
 
 "This is like her, only not half so lovely," he said,
 
 30 8 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 taking from his breast pocket a little miniature painted 
 by himself in the first flush of "love s young dream." 
 And while Margaret, with misty eyes, was studying the 
 beautiful face, Prudence came in, looking quite the 
 grand dame in her brocaded black petticoat and puce- 
 colored velvet jacket, with knots of lavender ribbons 
 a-flutter in her white stomacher and high lace cap ; and 
 at once everything suffered a change the major, hast 
 ily putting the miniature out of sight, stood up to receive 
 her florid greeting, and the old man roused from his 
 dream with a start, while Margaret, smothering a sigh, 
 turned to her \vork-basket, and fell to hemming industri 
 ously. 
 
 But by the time the major had made his bow, and 
 assured Prudence, in answer to her profuse inquiries, that 
 he was in the best of health, a sunbeam falling in a 
 straight line across the sanded floor told that it was high 
 noon, and promptly at the moment Ilagar announced 
 that dinner was ready. Margaret smiled to herself to 
 see how cleverly her aunt had arranged it all ; but the 
 y6ung man protested that he had already overtaxed their 
 hospitality. 
 
 " Nay, nay, friend," said the old Quaker, in no haste 
 to part with this gentle guest, " the breaking of bread 
 together is the seal of friendship ; " and the major waited 
 for no further urging. 
 
 Shortly after their return to the keeping-room, Betty 
 Osgood came in, and a little later the Mulford girls. 
 If they had any inkling that the young major was there, 
 none of them betrayed it. They were dying of lone-
 
 THE YOUNG MAJOR. 309 
 
 liness, Amy declared, the village was so utterly de 
 serted. 
 
 The major was not at all abashed. He had a strong 
 liking for domestic life, and a marvellous ease in adapt 
 ing himself to his surroundings ; and soon, with this bevy 
 of fair maids for an audience, he was giving an animated 
 description of that fantastic fete, the Mischianza, that 
 had been held in Philadelphia the previous May, in 
 honor of Lord Howe on his departure for England. It 
 was like a tale from fairy lore, his vivid account of the 
 tournament and regatta, and the gay pageant of the 
 "Knights and Ladies of the Blended Rose;" nor did 
 he omit to picture the lovely Peggy Chew, for whom he 
 himself had played the knight ; and the girls, listening 
 entranced, forgot for the time that the chief actors were 
 redcoats and Tories. 
 
 But after the guests were gone Margaret took herself 
 relentlessly to task for having hearkened with such pleas 
 ure to the recital ; it seemed so like disloyalty to the brave 
 men who at the very time that these mocking revels were 
 in progress were undergoing hardships more cruel than 
 death. And this young officer, refined and fascinating 
 as he was, what was he in comparison with Lodowick? 
 O Lodowick ! Lodowick ! Oh, but to know where he 
 was ! to have some word telling her that he was still 
 alive ! 
 
 That evening Colonel Gardiner came to the door. 
 
 " Nathaniel is home," he said in an undertone to Mar 
 garet, who chanced to be the first to meet him. " But 
 with British officers in the house we don t dare to let him
 
 310 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 show himself now that he has entered the army, lest he 
 be taken for a spy. He might better have waited," he 
 added vaguely. 
 
 Margaret caught her breath. 
 
 "Why not have him come to us? I am sure it would 
 be safer." 
 
 " No, it is only for a day or two, and the risk would 
 be equally great. I wanted merely to put you on your 
 guard in case any one should happen to speak to you of 
 his being here." 
 
 Shortly afterward Margaret, who had lingered on the 
 porch, heard some one calling softly to her from the 
 shadow of the hedge. 
 
 " Nathaniel ! " she cried in a whisper. " What made 
 you come? " 
 
 " Because I wanted to see the folks and you be 
 fore beginning my work," said the young surgeon. 
 "Do you know that I am in the army?" 
 
 "Yes, and I congratulate you; but it makes your 
 visit too perilous, I m afraid, for your friends to enjoy 
 it. O Nathaniel, how merciless war is ! And no pros 
 pect yet of peace." 
 
 "Courage, little twin!" he said, detecting the catch 
 in her voice; " peace may be nearer than we think. I 
 saw your friend Betsy Dering the other day. Mr. Der- 
 ing, as perhaps you know, has taken his family to Con 
 necticut ; and when peace comes I wonder if you have 
 heard? Betsy has promised to be my wife." 
 
 " Oh, I am glad ! " said the girl, giving him both her 
 hands. " God grant peace may come soon ! "
 
 THE YOUNG MAJOR. 311 
 
 "God grant it indeed!" responded the young man 
 fervently. "O Margaret, to see what our brave sol 
 diers are enduring ! to see how patiently the sick and 
 wounded suffer ! to see with what fortitude you of the 
 East End are bearing trials that are a daily martyrdom ! 
 God grant it may come soon ! And I begin to think 
 that it is not far off ; for while in some quarters the Brit 
 ish troops are making headway, in others they are suf 
 fering sore defeat, and the feeling seems to be gaining 
 ofround that England will never be able to subdue 
 the colonies by force of arms. Sir William Erskine, 
 it is said, is so fully persuaded of the injustice of the 
 treatment we are receiving at her hands that he 
 has determined to resign his commission and go 
 home. I was hoping to meet Major Andre, every 
 one seems so taken with him ; but as he is aide-de 
 camp to Sir Henry Clinton, father thinks it would not 
 be prudent." 
 
 "Perhaps he is right," answered Margaret slowly. 
 "The major is very friendly; but he is also intensely 
 loyal, and it is hard to tell to what lengths his zeal 
 might carry him" 
 
 " Oh ! it will doubtless be wiser for me to keep out of 
 his way. I go back to-morrow night. Good-by, little 
 twin. God keep you and yours ! " 
 
 Margaret peered over the hedge as he vanished, and 
 strained her ear for any sound that might indicate dan 
 ger ; but the street was dark and silent. 
 
 On the porch she found her grandfather waiting for 
 her. But it was not until they had reached his room,
 
 312 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 and closed the door behind them, that she ventured to 
 tell him of Nathaniel s visit. 
 
 " Thou wert wise not to encourage him to meet the 
 young major," he said. "When one ventures within 
 the enemy s lines, it is well to be cautious."
 
 GOLDEN FLEECE. 313 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 GOLDEN FLEECE. 
 
 THERE had been very little planting done that spring, 
 the horses and oxen having been appropriated by 
 the British in such numbers that there were not enough 
 left to perform the necessary labor. Besides, it had come 
 to pass that so large a share of the harvest was demanded 
 by the enemy that no one had the heart to make an ef 
 fort to raise anything more than was absolutely needed 
 for family use. Many of the best farms were suffered to 
 run to weeds ; and often those under cultivation were laid 
 waste by the foe, for the latter stopped for neither fence 
 nor hedge. The flax-fields fared no better than the rest ; 
 and this, with the deficiency of wool owing to the sacri 
 ficing of the sheep to the redcoats love of mutton made 
 a disheartening prospect for the spinners and weavers. 
 
 " Only see, grandpa, what a mere handful," said 
 Margaret one morning, looking ruefully at the scant 
 supply of wool that had resulted from the spring shear 
 ing. " If the same scarcity prevails throughout the 
 country, what will our poor soldiers do for clothing? " 
 
 " Have faith, little one. Consider the lilies." And 
 then, seeing that she was about to seat herself at the 
 wheel, he asked, " Why not go into the garden? "
 
 314 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " It would be pleasanter," she said, hesitantly, " if 
 we could be sure of not being interrupted again." 
 
 " We can be sure of nothing ; but I will take my book, 
 and keep thee company." 
 
 Whereupon Margaret yielded willingly ; for there was 
 a chill in the house, while outside the air was as soft as 
 summer. 
 
 For nearly an hour her wheel had been humming 
 steadily, the only interruption being an occasional re 
 quest from her grandfather that she would hearken to a 
 passage from the book he was reading. It was a much- 
 worn copy of Shakespeare ; and Margaret, whose love 
 for the poet matched his own, was always ready to listen. 
 But suddenly he broke off in the middle of a sentence : 
 and Margaret, turning to see why he had stopped, beheld 
 Major Andre and Lieutenant Burton standing at the 
 little gate between the palings. 
 
 " We beg you not to send us adrift," entreated the 
 major, holding out his hand with that winning frankness 
 that made him everywhere a favorite. " We are two 
 lone Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece, and we 
 know not where else to find it." 
 
 The old Quaker extended a cordial greeting, but 
 Margaret looked on with grave eyes. 
 
 "It is a vain quest," she said. "The enemy have 
 robbed us of our sheep, and left us scarce wool enough 
 for our needs ; they have broken down our hedges, and 
 spoiled our fields, and made the whole land desolate." 
 
 The seriousness of her answer disconcerted the young 
 man. Personally he was not conscious of the slightest
 
 GOLDEN FLEECE. 3 I 5 
 
 ill-will toward the Americans least of all toward these 
 independent but courteous people of the East End, with 
 their quaint old homes, and their equally quaint old 
 English ways ; and surely in all England there was 
 nothing fairer and fresher than these Island maidens. 
 
 " Margaret is right," responded her grandfather. 
 " Our fleece has become golden through its scarcity. 
 But we harbor no bitterness toward those who feel that 
 they are doing God service in serving the king." 
 
 The young men bowed gravely in acknowledgment of 
 this gracious implication. 
 
 " It is our misfortune," said the major, deprecatingly, 
 that we are forced to appear among you as enemies. 
 When once this difference is adjusted you will find us 
 the warmest of friends." 
 
 "It will be a happy day," said the old Quaker. 
 Then with ready tact he began to speak of Shake 
 speare, and the young men responded with hearty 
 appreciation. 
 
 "Still, there are some very good things outside of 
 Shakespeare," ventured Lieutenant Burton, looking 
 bashfully at Margaret. "There is the ballad of Chevy 
 Chase, for instance. Aw, but you should hear the 
 major recite it. He entertained Colonel Gardiner and 
 his family with it one evening not long ago, and they 
 applauded him without stint. 1 Come, major ! " 
 
 " Oh, not to-day ! " protested Andre. But when Mar 
 garet expressed a wish to hear it he relented ; and pres 
 ently the magnetic voice was holding them spellbound. 
 
 1 This recitation of (; Chevy Chase " is a well-established fact.
 
 316 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Thank you, Major Andre," said Margaret, breaking 
 the breathless hush. " It is a grand poem ; but how un 
 speakably sad. So many brave men bathed in purple 
 blood, so many women widowed, so many little ones 
 made fatherless, and all for one man s greed ! " And 
 with misty eyes she turned, and busied herself with her 
 wheel. 
 
 " Ay, it was truly a woful hunting, " said her grand 
 father ; "and men would do well to heed the lesson it 
 teaches, so vain and impious is it to trv to settle a wrong 
 with the shedding of blood. A blessed day it will be 
 when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares, and 
 spears into pruning-hooks. 
 
 "Ay, indeed," responded Andre heartily; "and none 
 so long for its coming as those who are forced to lead a 
 soldier s life. 
 
 To drive the deer with hound and horn 
 
 is much more to our liking, and it grieves me that so 
 soon I must turn my back on this fair Province. I go 
 to-morrow." 
 
 " Sir William, too, goes shortly," said Lieutenant 
 Burton, when Margaret and her grandfather had ex 
 pressed their regret; " and then the rest of us must say 
 farewell." 
 
 "Ay, and the general is no less loath to leave than 
 we are," added Andre. "lie has fallen mightily in 
 love with this part of the Island. He says that it is the 
 garden spot of America, and that when the war is 
 ended he is coming back to have his country-seat on
 
 GOLDEN FLEECE. 31 7 
 
 the wooded hills yonder that overlook the ocean. 1 I 
 fancy I should not mind having one there myself; and 
 who knows but I may, some of these days, if fortune 
 favors me." 
 
 "With Miss Peggy Chew for its mistress, perhaps," 
 said Margaret, smilingly. 
 
 " Miss Peggy is one that you would like for a neigh 
 bor, I am sure of that," answered Andre quickly, his 
 eyes beaming; " and I am equally sure that the liking 
 wfculd be mutual. Oh ! indeed I mean to return," he 
 went on. " Our host, the colonel, has exchanged wine 
 glasses with me, and at no distant day I trust we may 
 drink again to each other s health." 2 
 
 "Have you met his son?" asked Margaret, tenta 
 tively. 
 
 "No; and I regret it. He was home on a visit a 
 short time since, as perhaps you know ; but owing to our 
 relative positions, though aware that he was there, I had 
 to forego the pleasure of an introduction. If ever again 
 we are under the same roof, I trust the time and place 
 will be more favorable for our becoming acquainted." 
 
 And then with kindliest wishes he bade them fare 
 well ; and to none of them came any foreshadowing of 
 the tragedy that was to bring about the meeting between 
 him and Nathaniel. 
 
 " Oh, the pity of it ! " sighed Margaret, " that friendly 
 as he is we must still count him an enemy ! " 
 
 " Grandpa," said she that evening, " I have a plan to 
 
 1 It is said that this was truly General Erskine s plan. 
 
 2 Major Andre s wineglass is still in the Gardiner family.
 
 31 8 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 propose. General Erskine is so kind so different 
 from General Tryon it has come to me that perhaps, 
 if he knew about father and Lodowick, if they are still 
 in prison and surely had they been set free we should 
 have heard of it he would be willing to intercede 
 with Sir Henry Clinton for their release." 
 
 The old man shook his head. " I m afraid it would 
 be useless to ask it, little one. War has its usages, and 
 it is not often that a soldier is released except in ex 
 change." 
 
 But the idea had taken so firm a hold that she was 
 unwilling to give it up. She would at least, she deter 
 mined, consult Priest Buell. 
 
 " It is a forlorn hope, my child," was the minister s 
 answer, when she appealed to him ; but he lost no time 
 in presenting the matter to Sir William. 
 
 " I doubt if it would be of any avail," said the gen 
 eral, " at least until something more definite is known. 
 But I will gladly give the young lady and her grand 
 father safe conduct, if they wish to go to the city to 
 make inquiries. Some of my men, with Lieutenant Bur 
 ton in command, start two days hence, and they need 
 have no fear in trusting themselves to their care." 
 
 The old man sat silent for a time when Priest Buell 
 had reported Sir William s answer. It was too weighty 
 a matter to be settled in any " unheedy haste." 
 
 " We must wait for the Indwelling Light to guide us," 
 he said. 
 
 But Margaret, who in her impatience would fain have 
 made " the wind her post-horse," felt that guidance had
 
 GOLDEN FLEECE. 319 
 
 already been given. Her Uncle Erastus, though an 
 ardent Whig, had been forced to remain in New York, 
 having been bedridden for years through injuries re 
 ceived in lighting England s battles in the French and 
 Indian war; and she and her grandfather, on reach 
 ing the city, would go at once to his house. The plan 
 seemed practicable ; and though the old man saw lions 
 in the way that Margaret did not dream of, his own im 
 patience for tidings made it an easy matter for her to 
 pe/suade him. 
 
 A carriage that Sir William sometimes used was put 
 at their service ; and as Lord Lion and old Vic were 
 hardly equal to so long a journey, two stout roadsters 
 were provided. 
 
 " It s a wild-goose chase you are starting on," said 
 Prudence; " but you are sensible to put yourself under 
 such protection. I only wish I were going myself. 
 They say that anybody that has a permit, and is known 
 to be a loyal citizen, can get almost anything he wants 
 in the city; and I should enjoy having a chance to buy 
 something once more. If you are wise you will provide 
 yourself with a permit as soon as you arrive ; and here 
 is a list of things that I want you to get me. I am out 
 of everything in the way of wearing apparel ; not so 
 much as a yard of new ribbon have I had since this 
 iniquitous rebellion began, except the piece I bought of 
 that peddler, you remember, who promised to bring me 
 the lavender silk to match it, and never showed himself 
 again. Do be careful, when you get the cap, to have 
 them put it in a good stiff box."
 
 320 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Margaret took the list without answering. She was 
 thinking of the peddler, and of Lodowick. 
 
 And then the carriage drew up at the gate, followed 
 by Lieutenant Burton and his men in their brilliant 
 uniforms. 
 
 "O Meg! but I envy you," whispered Betty, with a 
 parting kiss. 
 
 Meg shook her head sorrowfully. 
 
 "Ah, Betty! you forget how sad our errand is." 
 But Betty was courtesying to the young lieutenant, who, 
 having caught sight of her at the moment, was making 
 his best bow.
 
 A HOPELESS QUEST. 321 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 A HOPELESS QUEST. 
 
 the land is desolate!" mourned the old 
 Quaker, looking out at the untilled fields, the 
 denuded woodlands, the deserted homes, the broken 
 hedges and fences ; and the farther westward they jour 
 neyed, the more hopeless seemed the devastation. 
 
 The road lay over the Shinnecock Hills ; and even in 
 these fastnesses the work of the enemy was apparent, 
 vast numbers of the grand old trees that had crowned their 
 windy heights for ages having been cut down for fuel. But 
 no requisition of the invader had been able to lessen the 
 grandeur of the sea, nor to defraud the travellers of the 
 salt fragrance that a soft south wind was wafting inland. 
 It was an uneventful journey. The lieutenant, riding 
 beside the carriage, was tireless in his attentions ; but it 
 was seldom that he succeeded in bringing a smile to the 
 sad dark eyes at the window. Margaret, however, was 
 not unmindful of his kindness ; and more than once, when 
 he had been exerting himself to make her and her grand 
 father comfortable, she thanked him with a cordiality so 
 frank and sweet that he was almost tempted to forswear 
 his allegiance to King George for the sake of this fair 
 young rebel.
 
 322 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 The second night was spent at a country inn near 
 Jamaica ; and Margaret shuddered when she recalled 
 that it was here that the brave Woodhull was so bru 
 tally mangled by his captors for saying, " God save us 
 all," when they ordered him to say " God save the 
 king." 
 
 There was a heavy shower during the evening, but 
 the next morning the skies were clear, and when they 
 drove into the city the sun was doing its best to make 
 things cheerful ; but the brilliant light served only to 
 emphasize the blight and ruin that had taken the place 
 of that proud prosperity that so short a time before had 
 made New York the queen of colonial commerce. 
 
 The old man, who had leaned forward eagerly for a 
 look at the once familiar streets, drew back with a sigh 
 of disappointment. 
 
 "Would God there had been some other way to 
 peace ! " he said, wearily. 
 
 Since the beginning of the war they had had no tid 
 ings from Erastus Neale ; and Lieutenant Burton, still 
 solicitous for their comfort, insisted on taking them to 
 Fraunces s Tavern, to wait until he could make inquiries. 
 
 "It is possible that there may be other guests in 
 the house," he said, in answer to Margaret s protest. 
 "Likely as not a dozen Hessian devils," he muttered to 
 himself, putting spurs to his horse; " and fine company 
 they would be for my Lady Margaret." 
 
 He was gone scarcely an hour, but to Margaret it 
 seemed a day. 
 
 "It was as I feared," he said. "A number of sol-
 
 A HOPELESS QUEST. 323 
 
 diers had been billeted on the family ; but we found 
 lodgings for some of them elsewhere, and your friends 
 are expecting you." 
 
 And when he had seen them welcomed by Mrs. Neale 
 herself, nothing but the necessity of reporting at once to 
 Sir Henry Clinton, who, with his staff, was absent from 
 the city, kept him from offering to be their escort in 
 visiting the prisons. 
 
 " I think that can be easily managed," said Mrs. 
 Neale, as she led Margaret to her room. " Our neigh 
 bor, Mrs. Whetten, has access to all the prisons, and will 
 be very glad to take you with her. She and her daugh 
 ters, and many other of the New York women, spend 
 most of their time in preparing food and clothing for the 
 suffering patriots. Captain Cunningham says that they 
 are the worst rebels in the country. Deborah Franklin 
 the Quakeress has been banished from the city for her 
 devotion to the cause." 
 
 " One might be proud of such a banishment," cried 
 Margaret. 
 
 In her impatience she could scarcely wait to recover 
 from the fatigue of the journey. But Mrs. Neale was 
 wiser. 
 
 "Rest to-day," she said; "to-morrow will be time 
 enough to begin our search." 
 
 Her grandfather had meanwhile been discussing mat 
 ters with her uncle. 
 
 " It has been a dreary time for our hapless city," said 
 the old soldier, raising himself on his pillow. " In 
 March provisions were so scarce that the British them-
 
 324 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 selves were reduced to extremities ; and had Washing 
 ton s forces only known it," he added, lowering his 
 voice, " they might have made an easy conquest. In 
 fact, the British were almost on the point of surrender 
 ing to escape starvation. The timely arrival of several 
 victualling ships was all that saved them. It was a 
 hard time for the citizens, and doubly so, I fear, for 
 our poor prisoners." 
 
 " Dost thou think it will be of any use for Margaret 
 to undertake this search? " 
 
 Neale shook his head. 
 
 " I should be loath to discourage the child, but I doubt 
 if Aaron is living. We have made many inquiries 
 through Mrs. Whetten and other friends, but nothing 
 has come of them ; and perhaps it will be well to warn 
 her not to be over hopeful." 
 
 But Margaret started out on her quest with the confi 
 dent courage of youth. Her grandfather had intended 
 to go with her; but her uncle assured him that Mrs. 
 Whetten was quite sufficient for an escort, and added 
 that as a rule it was an easier matter for women to gain 
 access to the prisoners than for men.
 
 DUNGEONS Ob DESPAIR. 325 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 DUNGEONS OF DESPAIR. 
 
 THE Sugar House on Liberty Street was their first 
 Mecca. It was a dark stone building five stories 
 high, with heavily barred windows and a massive, jail- 
 like door, while a solid board fence nine feet in height 
 enclosed the yard. Two brutal-looking Hessians who 
 were on duty stared boldly at the young visitor, but she 
 was too preoccupied to notice them. 
 
 Was it possible, she was saying to herself, that her 
 father and Lodowick were shut within those dismal 
 walls? 
 
 " Will they let us in? " she whispered. 
 
 Her friend, with a silent negative, led the way to a 
 guard-house near by ; and here, at a window that over 
 looked the prison yard, a friendly sergeant permitted 
 them to seat themselves. 
 
 Below, in small companies, the prisoners were press 
 ing out from their loathsome cells and dungeons for their 
 meagre dole of fresh air. But it was hard to believe 
 that these ghastly objects were living men. They were 
 more like galvanized bodies of the dead stepping forth 
 from a charnel house. Margaret covered her face with 
 her hands to shut out the baleful sight. But at that very
 
 326 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 moment, she reflected, Lodowick or her father might be 
 passing ; and with a shudder she forced herself to look 
 again. 
 
 Some of the men recognized Mrs. Whetten, she was 
 so frequent a visitor ; and it was pitiful to see them try to 
 force a smile as they went by. She had brought a large 
 basket of cookies ; and now and then, as she dropped 
 the cakes into the outstretched hands, the poor fellows 
 would stop to exchange a word or two with their motherly 
 benefactress. And whenever this occurred Margaret 
 would ask with bated breath whether there were any 
 among them from the East End. But no one seemed 
 able to give a definite answer ; and the sergeant, on 
 being questioned, proved no wiser than the prisoners. 
 
 " If your friends were captured off land they ve prob 
 ably been taken to one of the prison ships, he said; 
 " and if they re there, God pity em ! " 
 
 " They were on board a privateer," she said, her face 
 blanching. 
 
 The sergeant looked at her pityingly. "Then I m 
 afraid there s no hope of finding them on land." 
 
 But she felt that there was at least a possibility of 
 their having been thrown into some of the city prisons, 
 and she could not be content to leave any of them un- 
 visited. Mrs. Whetten went with her to the old Provost, 
 and to the grewsome dungeons under the City Hall ; but 
 the answer was always the same. 
 
 One morning, going a little earlier than usual to the 
 Sugar House, they beheld a sight that made Margaret 
 clutch her friend s arm to keep from falling, for the
 
 DUNGEONS OF DESPAIR. 327 
 
 faintness that came over her. The dead-cart, going its 
 rounds, had halted at the door ; and four dead soldiers 
 were being tossed in like logs of wood. 
 
 "O brave martyrs!" she moaned. "Patriots who 
 have given their lives for their country ! Surely God 
 will avenge their wrongs. But I cannot believe that 
 Christian England sanctions this treatment of her chil 
 dren. If I could, I should blush for every drop of Eng 
 lish blood in my veins." 
 
 / Alas," said Mrs. Whetten, "England is like too 
 many another mother ! She shifts the responsibility 
 upon hirelings, and then wonders that her children do 
 not rise up and call her blessed." 
 
 The following morning an impenetrable fog kept them 
 housed. There were but two days left, as Lieutenant 
 Burton and his squad expected to set out for the East 
 End the ensuing Monday, and Margaret was on the 
 verge of despair. 
 
 " Surely there must be somewhere a record of the 
 names of the prisoners," she said. 
 
 "No accurate one, I m afraid, child," answered her 
 uncle, " except that kept by the recording angel ; none at 
 least to which in these troublous times we can gain access." 
 
 A visit to the prison ships was now her only hope ; 
 and when on Saturday morning Mrs. Whetten and her 
 daughters called for her to go with them to the Wal- 
 labout, she determined to make the most of the oppor 
 tunity. 
 
 "We have a quantity of food for the prisoners," said 
 Mrs. Whetten ; " and as one of the officers always comes
 
 328 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 ashore in the boat sent to receive the supplies, we may 
 possibly have a chance to make some inquiries." 
 
 "Perhaps," said Margaret, eagerly, "we might pre 
 vail on him to take us in the boat with the provisions." 
 
 " Oh, my dear, no ! " protested Mrs. Whetten. "Even 
 if it were allowed, it would not be prudent. Fever and 
 small-pox are prevailing on board the ships, and you 
 \Vould be risking your life." 
 
 But love makes light of risks ; and when, on reaching 
 the Wallabout, she saw the black hulks lying like huge 
 coffins on the sullen waves, the desire to board them so 
 overmastered her that she hailed a young negro, who 
 was idling in a rowboat near the shore, and begged him 
 to carry her across. 
 
 The boy eyed greedily the two silver shillings that she 
 held out to him, hesitated, and was about to yield, when 
 the boat sent to take charge of Mrs. Whetten s baskets 
 pulled ashore. 
 
 There were two men in the boat, one of them being 
 one of the ship s officers and the other a prisoner de 
 tailed to do the rowing ; and as soon as they landed, 
 Mrs. Whetten began to question them. 
 
 " A man by the name of Neale, who was brought 
 on board our ship not long ^go," Margaret heard the 
 prisoner saying, " was knocked overboard yesterday. 
 I don t know what his other name was." 
 
 " We lowered a boat, and tried to save the poor wretch," 
 added the officer, with indifferent interest; " but he went 
 down like a stone, and there was such a nasty fog that 
 there was no telling where to look for him."
 
 DUNGEONS OF DESPAIR. 329 
 
 Margaret waited for no further parley with the boy. 
 
 " Was he a middle-aged man? " she inquired breath 
 lessly. 
 
 " Age doesn t count by years on board those British 
 hells," answered the prisoner in an undertone, the officer 
 having turned to give directions to Mrs. Whetten s man 
 in regard to the hampers. " Men who join us in the 
 prime of life become aged in a night." 
 
 " Was there any one there by the name of Brewster? " 
 she ventured to ask. And when he answered that he 
 knew of none, she begged to be taken over, that she 
 might make inquiries for herself. 
 
 "For God s sake don t think of it!" he said, in a 
 husky whisper. " An angel might step down into hell 
 and escape going mad ; but there are sights and sounds 
 on yonder vessels that would make your brain reel, child. 
 No, no, you couldn t bear it, even if you had leave 
 to go." 
 
 The officer was calling to him, but he lingered for one 
 more word. 
 
 " If the man that went overboard was the Neale you 
 are seeking, take this to comfort you : he knczu how to 
 swim?" 1 
 
 The bro\vn eyes beamed on him gratefully. It was 
 only a straw ; but she caught at it, and took courage. If 
 it were indeed her father, she needed none to tell her 
 that he was as much at home in the water as on land ; 
 she had too often seen him dash into the surf, and swim 
 out beyond the breakers. And yet, even if he gained 
 the shore alive, how r could he escape being retaken?
 
 33Q AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 She was still vexing her brain with the hopeless prob 
 lem when she reached her uncle s house. 
 
 Her aunt met her at the door. " There s a man here 
 with vegetables to sell, and he says he has seen your 
 father," she said, starting to lead the way to the kitchen. 
 But Margaret was there before her. 
 
 An old man was bending over a basket from which 
 black Chloe was selecting a supply of lettuce and 
 radishes. 
 
 "We may as well take the whole of them, Chloe, 
 said her mistress, opening her purse. 
 
 " La, yez m ! Them rab nous sogers ll gobble em 
 down in no time," answered the cook; and having emp 
 tied the vegetables into another basket, she took them at 
 once to the cellar. 
 
 " Hide me, Margaret," whispered the man. And 
 when Chloe came back, she found the kitchen deserted.
 
 THE PRISONER S STORY. 331 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 THE PRISONER S STORY. 
 
 A LITTLE later, in the invalid s room, with bolted 
 L \. doors and close-drawn curtains, Aaron Neale, di 
 vested of his gray wig and grizzly beard, related in cau 
 tious tones his marvellous escape. To those that listened 
 to him it was like the story of one risen from the dead, 
 he was so white and wasted. 
 
 " I was knocked overboard yesterday by one of the 
 brutal guards," he said, stopping to moisten his lips ; 
 " and had not a friendly sailor witnessed the act, I 
 doubt if any effort would have been made to save me. 
 It was a feeble one at best, for which I was thankful ; I 
 prayed for death rather than have them drag me back to 
 that foul hell. But happily I was not hurt; and as the 
 fog prevented my being seen when I came to the surface, 
 I struck out at once for shore. Last night I was hidden 
 in Remsen s mill ; and this morning our good friends 
 gave me a change of linen, and furnished me with my 
 disguise." 
 
 "But Lodowick, father! where was Lodow r ick?" 
 Margaret faltered. 
 
 "Ah, child, I do not know. He could have escaped, 
 as some of the others succeeded in doing, in the ship s
 
 332 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 boat, from the privateer, at the time we were taken ; 
 but I was below, not knowing our danger, and finding 
 that I was missing, he rushed back to call me. But by 
 the time we got on deck our boat had cut loose on the 
 one side, and the enemy was boarding us on the other. 
 We were separated when we reached the Wallabout, and 
 I have never seen him since. But don t despair, daugh 
 ter. An uncertainty always leaves room for hope, and 
 it is quite possible that he is safe. It is a brave record 
 he has made. Twice at the risk of his life he saved 
 our colors from being captured, and has been three 
 times promoted. If still a prisoner, he would surely 
 have found some way to let me know." 
 
 / 
 
 "And hast thou had no news of John?" asked his 
 father-in-law, putting an arm around Margaret. 
 
 "Not since my imprisonment. News from the outer 
 world rarely penetrates those charnel houses. My God, 
 my God, what scenes I have been forced to witness ! " 
 
 He buried his haggard face in his hands, and no more 
 questions were asked till he lifted it. 
 
 " There are no words that can portray them," he went 
 on; "and the mere remembrance is enough to drive one 
 mad. The men, crowded by hundreds into those pest 
 holes, are dying as if smitten with the plague ; and their 
 fiendish keepers have nothing for them but taunts. Surely 
 if there were never before a hell, God Almighty would 
 create one for the punishment of those who are inflicting 
 these hellish tortures. He alone knows what his faith 
 ful ones are suffering on board those reeking dens. And 
 never did men suffer more heroically ; for any moment
 
 THE PRISONER S STORY. 333 
 
 that they would consent to take the oath of allegiance 
 they would be set free ; and yet, with this temptation 
 always before them, they go on day after day and month 
 after month enduring their untold torments. Ah, the 
 world has never seen truer patriots ! " 
 
 There were some violets on the table beside his 
 brother s bed, and catching sight of them he stopped to 
 smell them. 
 
 " Oh, how we longed for land ! " he said, with a deep- 
 Irawn breath. " We were like mariners in mid ocean, 
 o far away seemed the fair, green earth. Often when 
 the dead-boat came to carry away those who had died 
 during the night, the men would beg leave to go ashore to 
 help bury them, just for the joy of feeling the land be 
 neath their feet again, if only for a moment ; and once, 
 I remember, one of them brought back a bit of green 
 turf, and it was passed from hand to hand as if it had 
 been a rose, so eager were we to touch and smell it." 
 
 He stopped, exhausted ; and Mrs. Neale, furtively 
 drying her eyes, hurried down to the kitchen for food. 
 
 " Ah, it is good to see something fresh and clean once 
 more," he said, as she set before him the daintily spread 
 tray. " It is impossible to describe to you the place and 
 manner in which our meals were served ; and the meals 
 themselves ! why, our East End swine have better fare." 
 And though the food before him might have tempted 
 an epicure, he could scarcely do more than taste it, so 
 horrible was the remembrance of what he had passed 
 through. 
 
 Margaret had already begun to plan to have him go
 
 334 IN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 home with them ; she could trust the lieutenant. But it 
 was soon evident that he was not strong enough to en 
 dure the journey, and then she begged to stay to nurse 
 him. It was a daughter s right, she urged. Besides, 
 it seemed to her that here there was still a possibility of 
 her getting tidings of Lodowick. But not even her aunt 
 approved of this, glad as she would have been to keep 
 her with her. 
 
 " No, no, daughter," protested her father. " You are 
 safer at the East End than here. And as soon as I am 
 able to travel I must find my way back to my regiment. 
 Every man is needed at his post." 
 
 No one made answer to this, for it did not seem to any 
 of them that he would ever again be fit for service. 
 
 " He is weaker than he thinks," said his brother, 
 when Aaron had been persuaded to go into an adjoining 
 room, and take the rest he so much needed ; and in spite 
 of the joy of knowing that he was alive and no longer a 
 prisoner, it was with heavy hearts that Margaret and 
 her grandfather prepared the following Monday to set 
 out on their return. 
 
 "Should you chance to see any of Captain David 
 Hand s people," said Aaron, as they sat waiting for 
 their escort, " tell them that the captain is a hero. He s 
 grit to the backbone. He was captured by the British 
 on a small frigate belonging to our navy off Charleston 
 Harbor, and was detailed to make repairs on the cap 
 tured vessel, with the promise of being paid for his labor. 
 When he was through, the wretches who were rowing 
 him across to the British ship overpowered him, and
 
 THE PRISONER S STORY. 335 
 
 stripped him of nearly everything he had on. But 
 not a particle intimidated, the moment he was on board 
 he marched up to the commander, and demanded that 
 his clothes be restored to him. Go find them ; I ve got 
 nothing to do about that, was the answer ; and faring 
 no better when he asked for his pay, he boldly told the 
 officer that all he wanted now was to begin at the taff- 
 rail, and fight the whole ship s crew forward, and die 
 like a man. 1 One of his shipmates, captured at the same 
 tinte, told me about it ; and he said he gloried in the 
 captain s pluck. I hope the brave fellow may outlive 
 his brutal captors. What, has the carriage come? " 
 
 "O father! father!" cried Margaret, throwing her 
 arms around him. 
 
 "Come, little one," said her grandfather, presently, 
 his own voice quavering ; " they are waiting for us." 
 
 1 See Howell s " History of Southampton," p. 77.
 
 336 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 RESCUED. 
 
 OWING to several detentions on the road, it was late 
 on Tuesday afternoon when the travellers reached 
 Patchogue. Margaret, having heard Lieutenant Burton 
 say that a detachment of British soldiers was at the inn, 
 would have preferred to spend the night elsewhere ; but 
 her grandfather, who was already over-tired, agreed with 
 the lieutenant that it would be wiser not to lengthen the 
 day s journey. 
 
 The young man, however, fully appreciated the ob 
 jection she had made, and with delicate consideration 
 ordered supper to be served for her and her grandfather 
 in a private room. 
 
 After supper, the lieutenant having suggested that a 
 walk might be refreshing, they strolled to the water, with 
 the lieutenant and a young orderly for their body-guard. 
 
 " Ah, thank God for the wind from the sea," said the 
 old Quaker, baring his head. "It is the one imported 
 article," he added, with a shrewd sparkle in his blue 
 eyes, " on which the British can levy no tax." 
 
 The lieutenant took this home-thrust very good-na 
 turedly. 
 
 " Ay, you have the best of us there," he said with a
 
 RESCUED. 337 
 
 smile ; " and the very fact that the sea is free to all, will 
 in time, I trust, establish the comity of nations." 
 
 tk God speed the day," answered the old man fer 
 vently ; " the day when all the nations of the earth shall 
 be as one family." 
 
 Margaret said nothing. She was still haunted by the 
 haggard faces of the prisoned patriots, and the convic 
 tion, in spite of her father s hopeful words, that Lodo- 
 wick had not escaped. 
 
 Though twilight was coming on when they turned to 
 go back, it was so pleasant out-of-doors that Margaret 
 proposed their walking to the other end of the village. 
 But as they came opposite the inn, their attention was 
 arrested by a party of soldiers, and the girl drew back. 
 
 " What are they doing? " she asked, a little startled. 
 At the same moment she discovered that they were ab 
 sorbed in watching a horse that was being exhibited for 
 their benefit. It was a fiery young animal, and the man 
 that had him in charge evidently considered himself the 
 owner of a prize. 
 
 " Eh, but he th a beauty! " he was saying. "Juth 
 look at that mane, will yer ! An thee what an eye he th 
 got. He th a born rayther too. Put im in training till 
 the Athcot Eath openth, an I ll wager ten poundth that 
 there won t be anything on the turf to m-m-atch im." 
 
 Suddenly Margaret clutched her grandfather by the 
 sleeve. 
 
 " It s Lion, grandpa ! O Lion ! Lion ! " and tighten 
 ing her hold on the old man s arm, she gave a low, clear 
 whistle like a bird-call. None of the soldiers seemed to
 
 338 AH ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 hear it ; but the horse, ceasing his prancing, stood for a 
 second with lifted head and quivering nostrils ; then, with 
 a fierce plunge, he freed himself from his keeper, and 
 dashed across the street. The men fell back, not one of 
 them daring to put forth a restraining hand. 
 
 " Good heavens ! Can none of them stop him ! " cried 
 the lieutenant, planting himself between Margaret and 
 the oncoming hoofs. But Margaret stepped in front of 
 him. 
 
 " It is Lion! He knows me. Come, Lion, come." 
 And the next moment, with a contented whinny, Lion 
 was nestling his head on her shoulder. 
 
 " O Lion I Lion ! " she cried, putting her arms about 
 his neck, while the old Quaker, straightening himself, 
 put a protecting arm around the girl. And then the 
 spectators, comprehending what it meant, and carried 
 out of themselves, snatched off their hats and sent up a 
 cheer. But Lion s exhibiter took no part in it ; and be 
 fore the excitement lulled, he had slunk out of sight. 
 
 "It is the same man that tried to steal him once be 
 fore," said Margaret to the lieutenant. " His face was 
 blackened then ; but I should know him anywhere by 
 his lisp, and that queer sagging motion of his knees." 
 
 " Oh ! I know him. It s Wickson, the villain ! " an 
 swered Lieutenant Burton. And calling two of the sol 
 diers, he ordered them to take Wickson at once into 
 custody. 
 
 "As for Lord Lion," he said, "I shall have him 
 stalled next to my own horse to-night, and you need 
 have no fears for his safety."
 
 RESCUED. 339 
 
 " Oh ! thank you, but I m afraid I shall never again 
 feel that he is safe anywhere," said Margaret, sadly, with 
 her arm still over Lion s neck. And though the lieu 
 tenant assured her that he was going to put some of his 
 men on guard, it was with many misgivings that she 
 suffered Lord Lion to be led away ; for who could tell 
 to what base stratagem the thief, for the third time 
 foiled, might resort? 
 
 Her room adjoined her grandfather s; and for hours 
 after the old man had forgotten his w r eariness in the 
 peaceful sleep that comes so readily to old age, she sat 
 at the window with every nerve alert, for though Wick- 
 son himself was under arrest, no one knew how many 
 confederates he might have. 
 
 Her window faced the east ; and presently the moon 
 came up, and shared her watch. There was scarcely 
 wind enough to stir the tasselled fringe on the dimity 
 curtains, and in the deepening silence the muffled beat 
 of the surf was like the tramp of a mighty host moving 
 warily to its goal. At intervals a whippoorwill, hid in 
 some dusky corner of the garden, sent out its pitiful 
 lament ; and now and again, from a giant pine, midway 
 between the house and the barn, came the eerie cry of 
 an owl. 
 
 She heard the great clock in the hall below strike 
 ten, eleven, twelve ; and during all the long, weird 
 hours the sad young heart was making its cry to 
 Heaven. Peace! peace! would it never come? Four 
 years of war, and peace no nearer, seemingly, than it 
 was at the beginning ! She tried resolutely not to think
 
 340 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 of the scenes she had witnessed in the city, but she 
 found it impossible to shake off the remembrance of 
 those ghastly processions of wasted forms. 
 
 By and by the sky became overcast, and the air began 
 to grow uncomfortably cool. She was very tired, and 
 it seemed needless to watch any longer ; if the lieutenant 
 knew what she was doing, he would surely feel hurt at 
 her lack of confidence. Just then a footfall caught her 
 ear ; and the moon breaking forth at the moment, she 
 saw distinctly a soldier crossing the yard. Her first im 
 pulse was to cry out. But the man was not going to 
 ward the barn; he was simply walking back and forth. 
 And then as he passed from the shadow of the trees into 
 the full moonlight, she discovered that it was Lieutenant 
 Burton himself. "Bless his kind heart ! " she said 
 softly; "he must have been keeping watch all night." 
 
 A faint, red line was beginning to define the horizon ; 
 and it had scarcely become visible when an exultant 
 cock mounted the gate-post, and challenged the boding 
 owl with the announcement that day was at hand. It 
 was like a shout of triumph. 
 
 Margaret, screened behind her curtains, gave another 
 grateful glance at the faithful guard below. The night 
 was over, and Lion was unharmed ; and heavy-eyed, but 
 with a lightened heart, she threw herself on the bed and 
 went to sleep at once. 
 
 It was broad daylight when she awoke. She heard 
 her grandfather saying at the door that breakfast was 
 ready ; and dressing in haste, she went down looking pale 
 and wan after her long vigil, but never more lovely.
 
 RESCUED. 341 
 
 " Oh ! you don t need to tell me that Lion is safe," she 
 said, giving the lieutenant her hand. " How could it 
 be otherwise with such a guardian? How kind you 
 are ! " 
 
 And the young man unblushingly protested that he 
 had simply been on duty. 
 
 When they were about to start, he proposed having 
 one of his men ride Lion ; but Margaret preferred to 
 lead him. 
 
 ," He will follow like a dog," she said, as she drew 
 in the halter at the back of the carriage. 
 
 They had taken an early start, and were travelling 
 leisurely, having covered about a third of the distance 
 between Patchogue and home, when they saw a small 
 party of soldiers approaching. 
 
 "Aw, it s General Erskine," cried Burton. "I 
 thought he was not to start till to-morro\v." A brief ex 
 planation followed the greetings, and then the general 
 turned to Margaret. 
 
 " We have your small worshipper in the rear, Miss 
 Neale," he said. " Last night we lodged in Quogue, 
 and this morning we overtook the little fellow trudging 
 ahead for dear life, only halting now and then as if 
 searching for something ; and when one of the men 
 asked him what he was looking for, he told a pitiful 
 story about Miss Marge s- horse being stoled, and 
 said that he was looking for his tracks." 
 
 As he was speaking, one of his men rode up with 
 Rick mounted behind him ; and before the driver could 
 let down the steps, Margaret was out of the carriage.
 
 342 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " O my girl ! " cried Rick, sliding to the ground, " I s 
 I s gone an los Lawd Lium ! " And with that he 
 hid his face in a corner of Margaret s shawl, and began 
 to sob. 
 
 "Oh, look up, Rick!" said his mistress. "Here s 
 Lord Lion safe and sound." 
 
 Rick was speechless, but Lord Lion squealed with 
 delight ; and the next minute the boy, scrambling to his 
 back, had his arms around his neck, and his tear-stained 
 little face buried in his mane. 
 
 "What ! Wickson again?" cried the general, on hear 
 ing the particulars of Lord Lion s rescue. " Zouncls ! 
 but the villain shall have something more than thirty 
 lashes for this offence." And then he kindly took leave 
 of them. "I return to England soon," he said; "but 
 I m coming back, God willing, when this wretched war 
 is over." 
 
 " Thou wilt not lack a welcome, friend, when that day 
 comes," responded the old Quaker warmly. 
 
 For the remainder of the journey Rick kept a tight 
 grip on Lion ; not even to eat could he be persuaded to 
 dismount. But he had nothing to say against Margaret s 
 keeping her hand on the halter. 
 
 At home his sudden disappearance had thrown the 
 whole household into confusion. Prudence was inclined 
 to think that he had taken the horse and joined the 
 enemy ; but Hagar scouted this idea, and with Ben and 
 Timothy to help her, had spent most of the time in 
 searching for him. 
 
 "We tracked the little fellow as far as New Li<rht
 
 RESCUED. 343 
 
 chapel," said Ben, " and then we lost all trace of him." 
 And from Rick s account of himself it seemed that just 
 there a redcoat picked him up, and carried him as far as 
 Job s Lane on his horse, with the intention, evidently, of 
 confiscating him ; but when it grew dark the little chap 
 had managed to slip off, and take to his heels. 
 
 The moment this mystery was cleared up, Prudence 
 began questioning Margaret ; and she was mightily put 
 out when she found that she had made no purchases.
 
 344 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 A BRAVE CHAMPION. 
 
 THE next afternoon Lieutenant Burton walked in. 
 Margaret was sewing ; and Rick, who on a low 
 stool at her side had been laboriously conning a column 
 of monosyllables, sprung up and gave the young man a 
 chair. Though not disposed to look with favor on any 
 of the "webcoats," he felt that the lieutenant, as the 
 rescuer of Lord Lion, was entitled to some considera 
 tion ; and when he had seen him comfortably seated, he 
 withdrew with stool and speller to a respectful distance, 
 and went on with his lesson. 
 
 The lieutenant, expecting to return to the city the next 
 day, had come with a purpose, and was glad to find 
 Margaret alone her little page was not worth taking 
 into consideration any more than the white kitten curled 
 on the settle at her side. He was a clean-natured, 
 straightforward young fellow ; and while content to fol 
 low the traditions of his family in politics and religion, 
 he had independence enough to use his own judgment 
 when it came to choosing a wife. And where, he asked 
 himself, even in old England, could he lind one fairer 
 and sweeter than Margaret Neale? For the sake of 
 such a woman a man might almost consent to remain in
 
 A BRAVE CHAMPION. 345 
 
 exile. His thoughts had been taking this trend since 
 the first day of that enchanting journey up the Island ; 
 and presently, as he watched her at her work, he made 
 an effort to put some of them into words. 
 
 Margaret, with her own thoughts preoccupied, scarcely 
 noticed at first the drift of what he was saying. But 
 when he began to deplore the war, her interest revived 
 at once. 
 
 " Most of us agree with General Erskine that it has 
 gone on long enough," he said. "And when peace 
 comes aw, when peace conies, may I not hope 
 allow me, he exclaimed, springing forward to pick up 
 a spool which at that inopportune moment slipped from 
 Margaret s fingers. 
 
 Margaret succeeded in catching it before it fairly 
 reached the floor ; but at the same instant the young 
 man caught her hand, and lifted it to his lips. She 
 drew back with an indignant protest in her face. 
 
 "You are forgetting yourself, Lieutenant Burton," 
 she said ; and her voice was so cold and cutting that he 
 was instantly abashed. 
 
 "Forgive me," he cried deprecatingly. " I I" 
 An ominous growl from the far corner of the room inter 
 rupted him. 
 
 " Wa fo he come a-talking thet way to my girl?" 
 Rick was muttering to himself. "I isn t goin to hab 
 him here. I s goin to put him out." And the boy 
 sprung to his feet with his small frame swelling with 
 wrath. At that moment, just in time to hear his threat, 
 Ilacrar chanced to come to the door,
 
 346 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Stop dat nonsense, yo young chippermunk," she 
 commanded with maternal sternness; " wa yo want o 
 be boverin the gempleman fo , w en he m a-talkin to 
 yo young mist ess." 
 
 Rick faced about with his black eyes blazing. 
 
 " Tain t me a-boverin him, it s him a-boverin her! " 1 
 he cried, stamping the floor with his little brown foot, 
 and shaking a diminutive finger at the British officer. 
 
 "Rick!" chided Margaret, trying to keep a grave 
 face. But the boy s attitude was so ludicrously tragic 
 that even the lieutenant found his features relaxing ; 
 and now that he had come to himself, he was thankful 
 that the little savage had saved him from a worse 
 defeat. Margaret could have hugged the boy. 
 
 "You are to be congratulated on having so bold a 
 champion," said Burton, with a grim smile. 
 
 " Oh ! Rick is, like England s champions, more loyal 
 than wise," answered the girl, with a flash of mischief 
 in her eyes. Whereupon the lieutenant, glad of so 
 good an opportunity to change the subject, picked up 
 the gauntlet, and began to defend himself and his com 
 patriots. But he was far from being at ease, and shortly 
 he bowed himself out. 
 
 At the gate he met Betty Osgood. She wore a gown 
 of pale green muslin, fine and sheer, that had once be 
 longed to her mother ; and, offset with its delicate tint, her 
 face looked more than ever like a fresh wild rose. The 
 lieutenant, out of sorts as he was, could not help remark 
 ing it as he returned her friendly greeting. Betty had 
 always admired him. It did her good, she said, to see
 
 A BRA YE CHAMPION. 347 
 
 some one who seemed at all times so disposed to take 
 life cheerfully. But to-day she saw that something had 
 ruffled him. 
 
 "Has anything gone wrong?" she asked her cousin, 
 taking a feather fan from the mantel-piece, and seating 
 herself primly in one of the high-backed chairs. 
 
 " Oh ! he and Rick had a little passage at arms ; and 
 as Rick had rather the best of it, the lieutenant naturally 
 felt a trifle nettled. I don t know what I am going to do 
 with Rick." 
 
 " He certainly ought to be taught to show more reve 
 rence for his superiors," said Betty, making a gentle 
 ripple in the air with the peacock feathers. "You are 
 not firm enough with him, Meg. Everybody says you are 
 spoiling him." 
 
 "Perhaps I am," answered Margaret meekly, with 
 out a suspicion of a smile. And Betty, feeling that she 
 had done her duty, began lamenting the going of the 
 officers, Margaret having remarked that the lieutenant- 
 was to follow the others the next day. 
 
 "They are our enemies, to be sure; but they are 
 gentlemen, and we shall die of loneliness if this goes on." 
 And Betty held the fan before her face, and furtively 
 wiped her eyes. 
 
 " Yes, it is lonely," said Margaret, with a shiver.
 
 348 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 A DARK DAY. 
 
 SINCE the burning of Danbury the enemy had made 
 so little disturbance in Connecticut that the people of 
 the East End had comforted themselves with the thought 
 that their exiled friends were experiencing but few of the 
 horrors of war. But suddenly even this consolation was 
 snatched from them. It w r as on a July day that the news 
 came. The British, led by General Tryon, had captured 
 New Haven, and burned Fairfield to the ground. And 
 in the midst of the terror and distress inspired by this 
 information, they heard of the burning of Norwalk. 
 
 " It is past belief that General Tryon could counte 
 nance such atrocities," said Squire Osborn. 
 
 "Alas, Tryon has become a Nero!" answered Priest 
 Buell. " It is said that after giving the order for Nor 
 walk to be burned, he seated himself in a rocking-chair 
 on a neighboring hill, and made merry over the spec 
 tacle. It seems that they had planned a descent on 
 New London also Tryon has a special spite against 
 New London, owing to its being such a rendezvous for 
 privateers but fearing that the opposition might be 
 too strong for them, they took to their ships, and came 
 back to Huntington Bay to await re-enforcements.
 
 A DARK. DAY. 349 
 
 " So the town is still menaced," cried Osborn. " My 
 God ! when will it end? " 
 
 When ? When ? It was a question that was being daily 
 repeated in every patriotic heart throughout the land. 
 But the months dragged by, and winter came again, and 
 still there was no sign of peace. 
 
 And what a winter it was ! Even the forces of nature 
 seemed in league with the enemy, for so intense was the 
 cold that the Sound became a highway over which the 
 British artillery was transported on wheels. For weeks 
 there was no respite, and the hapless East End patriots 
 especially the women found themselves nearer than 
 ever to absolute despair ; for anxiety and sorrow are al 
 ways doubly hard to endure when the sky is bleak and 
 the mercury at zero, and trebly hard if, in addition to 
 these discomforts, the larder be scant of food and the 
 hearth of fuel. 
 
 But neither the shrivelling cold nor the fear of the 
 enemy sufficed to keep the villagers from gathering 
 on the Lord s Day in the gray old meeting-house ; and 
 though even those who had foot-stoves were often chilled 
 to the bone, they always went away warmed and strength 
 ened spiritually, for however dark the hour, the little 
 minister s cheerful faith was equal to the demand. 
 
 "Courage, my people, courage!" was his constant 
 keynote. " There was never yet a winter that did not 
 yield to spring, and never a war that did not sooner or 
 later give place to peace." 
 
 And at last the cold surrendered to the sun. But the 
 East End was still at the mercy of the foe.
 
 350 /IN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " They had a perilous time at Amagansett last even 
 ing," said Priest Buell, coming in one afternoon to give 
 Margaret the latest tidings. " A party of fifteen or 
 twenty redcoats, all of them evidently in liquor, invaded 
 the village. Their first call was at Nathaniel Baker s, 
 and there, for some reason, not much mischief was 
 done ; but at Jeremiah Conkling s they fired through 
 the doors and windows, and so frightened the children 
 that they took refuge in the oven. Then, seeing a light 
 at Jerusha s, the wretches went over there and demanded 
 admittance ; but Isaac told them to go about their busi 
 ness, and began securing the door. A loud report fol 
 lowed. Jerusha was standing in the middle of the room 
 holding the light for her husband ; and the ball passed 
 under her elbow, and lodged in the fireplace, very nearly 
 killing Coats, the negro, who was putting on some wood. 
 I shudder to think what a narrow escape they had. For 
 tunately the little lads were in bed." 
 
 " Oh, thank God, no one was hurt ! " cried Margaret. 
 
 "Ay, we gave thanks indeed for that, but there is 
 no safety for either life or property with such brutes at 
 large. It is rumored, though, that the troops at this 
 end of the Island have been ordered to the front, and I 
 trust that soon we shall be rid of them. When that 
 comes to pass, you must run down to see Jerusha. She 
 \vas asking about you this morning. But I came near 
 forgetting a part of my news. Young Dr. Ebenezer 
 Sage 1 has come from Connecticut to make his home in 
 
 1 The Dr. Sage mentioned in Cooper s " Sea Lions." In iSoi he removed to Sag 
 Harbor.
 
 A DARK DAY. 351 
 
 Easthampton ; so the sick among us can take heart, for 
 
 he brings the best of credentials. Ah ! there s Sammy 
 calling me. I left the little man at the woodpile with 
 Rick. Good-by, friends, good-by !" And catching up 
 his hat, he gave a smiling nod, and was off. 
 
 "Oh, what fiends they are!" cried Margaret, too 
 excited over her friend s narrow escape to give a thought 
 to the young doctor s coming. " I must go to her at 
 once." 
 
 "Not yet, child, not yet," said her grandfather. 
 " When we know that none of them are left on this end 
 of the Island it will be time enough for thee to think of 
 going." 
 
 But the soldiers were in no haste to desert the East 
 End ; and when one day in May word came that Mrs. 
 Conkling was ill, Margaret could wait no longer. 
 
 " None of their horses would be able to overtake 
 Lion if I gave him the rein," she urged; " and Ben can 
 go with me on Vic." 
 
 " Of course I can, and be only too glad of the chance," 
 cried Ben. 
 
 But her grandfather insisted on going himself. 
 
 " Oh, let Ben go ! " Margaret entreated. " They have 
 no respect for gray hairs ; and I should never forgive 
 myself, grandpa, if any harm came to you." But he 
 held to his purpose ; and Ben, feeling that a brawny 
 youth of eighteen was likely to prove quite as trusty a 
 squire as a man of seventy-five, set about grooming Vic 
 with his ardor somewhat dashed ; while Margaret, de 
 termining to be prepared to protect the gray hairs, went
 
 352 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 to the little cupboard over the fireplace, and took down 
 an old horse-pistol belonging to her father ; but her 
 grandfather caught sight of it. 
 
 " No, no; leave it where it is, child, he commanded 
 with unaccustomed sternness. " If thou art likely to 
 need a defence of that sort it were wiser to tarn at 
 home." And Margaret reluctantly laid it back in its 
 place. 
 
 The morning was fair, and they took an early start. 
 But by the time they reached Amagansett the sky had 
 begun to darken. 
 
 " It will be well to make but a short stay, if we would 
 not be caught in the rain," said her grandfather, as they 
 dismounted. But Margaret, who was already half way 
 to the house, gave no further thought to the weather. 
 
 She found her friend propped up in her armchair, 
 with Dr. Sage in attendance. 
 
 " Amagansett as well as Easthampton is to be con 
 gratulated," said the invalid with a smile, when the 
 greetings and introductions were over. 
 
 " Nay, I am the one to be congratulated," responded 
 the doctor, with a courtly bow. He was a serious-faced 
 young fellow, with the general air of a student; and 
 Margaret said to herself that he looked like a man to be 
 trusted. But her impatience to have her friend to her 
 self made her glad when he withdrew. 
 
 It was scarcely fifteen minutes later that John Lion 
 and little David came running to their mother to ask 
 what made it night so soon. At that, Margaret, who 
 had quite forgotten the outer world, became aware of
 
 A DARK DAY. 353 
 
 the increasing darkness ; and just then her grandfather 
 and Mr. Conkling hurried in. 
 
 "We must be off, Margaret," said the old Quaker, 
 " or we shall not get home before the storm breaks. It 
 is so dark already that the fowls have gone to roost." 
 
 " Oh ! you must wait till the storm is over," protested 
 Mrs. Conkling. 
 
 But Margaret agreed with her grandfather that it was 
 better to start at once. 
 
 Meanwhile Ben, chafing a bit over his disappoint 
 ment, had made up his mind that he would have a little 
 outing of his own. By the time he could reach Three 
 Mile Harbor, he said to himself, the tide would be about 
 right for clamming. lie looked around for Timothy. 
 But Tim, who had no fondness for clam-digging, hav 
 ing chanced to get an inkling of Ben s plan, had hied to 
 the woods to gather pine knots ; and Ben, failing to find 
 him, took his rake and basket, and started off alone. He 
 took also his gun, thinking that he might perhaps have 
 the good fortune to sight some game. 
 
 He had gone about half the distance when, in passing 
 a thicket, he heard cries of distress ; and making a loop 
 hole through the brush, he saw old Timothy writhing in 
 the clutches of two villanous-looking redcoats. They 
 had bound the poor fellow to a tree, and were just then 
 engaged in gagging him. Ben pulled out his jack-knife ; 
 and waiting a moment to decide in what way he could 
 render the best help, he discovered that the men were 
 searching about for switches. Fortunately they had to 
 go a little distance to find what they wanted ; and before
 
 354 4N 1SLAXD HEROIXE. 
 
 they could return, Ben had set their victim at liberty. 
 Tim was for making good his escape, but Ben charged 
 him to lie low and keep quiet. While this was going on, 
 the light had become so dim that the redcoats, hurrying 
 
 
 
 back with their rods and rinding no prisoner, supposed 
 that they had missed the spot. 
 
 "It s so beastly dark," growled one of them, begin 
 ning to beat about among the bushes. But suddenly 
 Ben and Timothy sprang up with a wild whoop : and 
 while Ben levelled his gun at them, Timothy menaced 
 them with the clam-rake. Whereupon the soldiers took 
 to their heels, too thoroughly scared to look behind them. 
 
 Bless de Lawd. yo s made a free man o me ag in, 
 Marse Benj," cried the old slave, shouldering the rake : 
 an I isn t goin to to git it. If yo s goin clammin . I s 
 goin along. But Ben cast a dubious eye at the sky, and 
 decided that it would be wiser to turn about. Then an 
 other thought struck him. The redcoats had tied in the 
 direction of Amagansett : what if they chanced to meet 
 
 / 
 
 Meg and her grandfather? 
 
 Guess we d better cut across to the main road, and be 
 ready to head em off," he said, picking up the switches 
 the men had dropped, and giying one to Timothy. 
 
 They were barely out of the woods when they saw 
 dimly through the murky atmosphere Margaret and the 
 old Quaker going at a rapid canter along the highway. 
 But before they could warn them, the two soldiers 
 vaulted over the hedge on the opposite side of the road ; 
 and while one of them seized Vic s bridle, the other 
 made a dash for Lion, declaring with an ugly oath that
 
 A DARK DAY. 355 
 
 his Majesty s men \vere not going to be travelling on 
 i<jot when horses could be had for the taking. 
 
 Wait," whispered Ben, catching hold of Tim, who 
 
 was for pouncing on them at once: "lets see what 
 
 grandpa s up to." For while Lord Lion, who had 
 broken into his war-dance, was keeping his assailant at 
 a safe distance with his flying hoofs, the old man was 
 
 calmly addressing the figure at Vic s head. 
 
 We have no wish to harm thee, friend." Ben heard 
 him <ay : but if thou dost not allow us to proceed quietly 
 on our way, thou must take the consequences." And 
 then, to his amazement, he saw that he was covering 
 
 O 
 
 the two men who chanced to be standing in direct 
 range of each other with the old horse-pistol that he 
 had forbidden Margaret to carry. At the same moment 
 there came a deafening peal of thunder: and while the 
 frightened horses were snorting and plunging. Ben and 
 Timothy cleared the hedge, and began whacking the 
 ruffians with their hickory switches. 
 
 Bravo !" cried Margaret; but it was not till the red 
 coats, with a volley of curses, had again taken to their 
 heels, that she discovered who the knicjhts were that had 
 
 o 
 
 come so valiantly to the rescue. 
 
 They didn t think they were pruning rods for their 
 own backs." chuckled Ben. when he had explained how 
 he and Timothy had come by their weapons. " It s 
 what a good many folks are doing these days," he added 
 dryly. 
 
 While Margaret was quieting Lord Lion. Dr. Sage 
 rode up ; and when he heard of the attack, he heartilv
 
 356 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 wished that he himself had happened along in time to 
 play the knight-errant for this brown-eyed maiden. But 
 there was no time to waste in talking, the sky was too 
 threatening ; and the three riders set off on a gallop, with 
 Ben and Timothy scudding after them on foot. 
 
 By the time they entered the village, though it was 
 midday, they could scarcely discern the outlines of the 
 houses. Even the windmill, with its long, gray arms, 
 was only a blurred shadow against the sombre back 
 ground. 
 
 "It is hard to tell what it portends," said the young 
 doctor, reseating himself in the saddle after helping Mar 
 garet dismount. And with a lingering bow he rode on. 
 
 "Grandpa! to think of your carrying that pistol!" 
 cried the girl. "After forbidding me to take it, too! 
 Why, you fairly took my breath away ! " 
 
 "Ay, child, I own twas an unseemly thing," he an 
 swered meekly. "For myself I would fain gird on 
 only the spiritual armor ; but there are times when it 
 behooves us, for the sake of others, to provide ourselves 
 with carnal weapons also. However thee may as well 
 not mention it perhaps the pistol was not loaded, little 
 one." And at that, in spite of the funereal pall that 
 enveloped them, Margaret laughed outright. 
 
 " Oh, my Ian ! dat yo laughin , Miss Marge? " called 
 Hagar from the porch. "Thank de Lawd yo s here. 
 Ef de en ob de worl s a-comin , an we s a-goin to glory, 
 I wants de fambly to kind o keep togedder, so s we ll 
 know whar we all is." 
 
 "Oh! don t be frightened, Hagar," said the girl.
 
 " \\ E HAVE NO WISH TO HARM THEE, FRIEND, SAID THE OLD 
 QUAKER, RUT THOU MUST TAKE THE CONSEQUENCES. "
 
 A DARK DAY. 357 
 
 "Grandpa thinks it will soon be over." But she herself 
 was beginning to wonder, with a feeling akin to fright, 
 what the outcome was to be. 
 
 "Well, did you ever see anything like this?" cried 
 Prudence, meeting them at the door. "It passes my 
 comprehension. The idea of having to eat by candle 
 light at noontime ! " 
 
 And lo ! there on the dinner-table tw r o tall bayberry 
 candles in the shining brass candlesticks were diffusing 
 both light and fragrance, and making a comforting con 
 trast to the weird gloom outside. 
 
 For three hours longer midnight brooded over the 
 land. Then gradually the clouds grew lighter; and by 
 and by the birds began to pipe, and the fowls discov 
 ering that they had made a mistake in the time of day 
 came down from their roosts, and went to grubbing. 
 
 The " Dream of Darkness" was at an end, and those 
 who had quaked with fear congratulated themselves on 
 a new lease of life. 
 
 " You and grandad won t be likely to forget the nine 
 teenth of May very soon," said Ben, as he discussed 
 with Margaret the day s adventures. "Oh! but twas 
 fun to see grandpa handle that pistol. S pose he d 
 really have fired if there d been any need of it, Meg?" 
 
 Meg had gone to the window. 
 
 " Here comes Debby Brewster," she remarked. 
 Whereupon Ben made a dash into the entry.
 
 AN ISLAND HE KOINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 MISSING. 
 
 IN June a proclamation went forth requiring the in 
 habitants of Long Island to furnish nine thousand 
 cords of wood for the barracks in New York ; the people 
 of Southampton, Easthampton, and Southold being ex 
 pected to supply one-third the amount, and to have it 
 ready for shipping by the first of September. All who 
 withheld their help were to be heavily fined. 
 
 "Wish you d put me up a lunch, Meg," said Ben one 
 evening, shortly after hearing of this requisition. "I m 
 going fishing to-morrow with Burt and Vet, and we 
 want to be off by daylight. And you can tell Debby 
 that if nothing happens I ll bring her a bluefish. I 
 heard her wishing for one yesterday." 
 
 "Then be sure to be home in good season," advised 
 Meg, as she took down the lunch-basket. But Ben was 
 busy with his hooks and lines, and made no reply. 
 
 " Benjamin is late with his fish," said his grandfather 
 the next afternoon as it drew near supper-time. 
 
 "Oh! boys, if they are enjoying themselves, don t 
 pay much heed to the time of day," answered Margaret 
 with a laugh. "As long as the fish bite, it makes no dif 
 ference where the sun is."
 
 MISSING. 359 
 
 Prudence said nothing, but when nine o clock came 
 she began to be irritably anxious. 
 
 "There is no cause for uneasiness, Prudence," her 
 father-in-law assured her. "The lads are no longer 
 children, and in weather like this they are as safe on 
 the water as on land." 
 
 But days grew into weeks without bringing any news 
 of the young fishermen. 
 
 "All I know about it," volunteered Silas Post, "is 
 
 what I heard Vet Dimon say. He vowed if he was 
 * 
 goin to chop wood for anybody s barracks twould be for 
 
 Gen al Washin ton s, an 1 I shouldn t wonder if they d all 
 three set off for New Lon on." 
 
 " If that s the case, Benjamin need never trouble him 
 self to come home," Prudence declared, with Spartan 
 firmness.
 
 360 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 A GAJ.A DAY. 
 
 ONE Monaay afternoon Silas appeared at the kitchen- 
 door with a mess of fine porgies. 
 
 "Thought maybe you d git tired o waitin for Ben/ 
 he said, as he delivered the fish to Ila^ar. 
 
 O 
 
 " Ilab to go thout good while, I s feared, if we wait 
 fo him," answered Ilagar, turning up her eyes. " I s 
 be n tryin fo a munt to suade Tim fy to git some ; but, 
 laws ! he ain t got no mo gumshum bout iishin n a 
 hitchin -pos , Tim fy ain t." 
 
 " But hitching-posts are good things to tie to, Ilagar," 
 said Margaret, with a smile that brought a dimple with 
 it. She had her sleeves rolled to the elbow ; for she 
 had been helping Hagar stretch the sheets and fold the 
 clothes for the next day s ironing, and the exercise had 
 brought the color into her cheeks, and roughened the 
 brown rings about her forehead. 
 
 " Hear how Wakeman Foster up to Pon quogue got 
 the best o the British t other afternoon?" Silas asked, 
 making talk as an excuse for lingering. " Well," he 
 went on, delighted to find that no one had forestalled 
 him with the story, " a party of em come along an or 
 dered him to yoke up his oxen, an draw a boat across
 
 A GALA DAY. 361 
 
 for em from the Peconic to Shinnecock Bay. So off 
 he started with it, as meek as a lamb, with their lord 
 ships follerin on at their laysure ; an soon s it come 
 dark he begun layin on the gad, till the animals broke 
 into a run. But as he was yellin whoa all the while, 
 the redcoats thought twas all right, an didn t try to 
 ketch up with em ; an quick as he was out o earshot he 
 turned the critters loose in the brush, an that was the 
 
 last the men ever saw o their boat. Putty neat trick, 
 
 i L ti " 
 n\vasn t it r 
 
 " Twas shrewdly done," Margaret admitted ; "but 
 these things, I m afraid, only make them the more ready 
 to retaliate." 
 
 "Oh! they don t wait for no excuses for that," said 
 Silas. " Hullo! here comes Olin ; colors at half mas 
 as us al. He was in this mornin to borrer some coals ; 
 said his tire was out an his tinder damp, an I kind o 
 thought then he looked as if he was expectin bad news. 
 What now, mate ? " 
 
 "Oh! more trouble," complained Olin. "Jus as 
 we s thinkin we d bout got rid o the enemy, here s a 
 hul fleet of em come to anchor in Gardiner s Bay." 
 
 " Maybe it s trouble an maybe tain t," drawled Silas. 
 " I can t see s it s any worse n havin em quartered here 
 in the village. Sides, the more of em we have down 
 this en o the Island the fewer there ll be to pertec 
 t other en ; an some o these days our folks 11 jus sail 
 in there an take possession ag in." 
 
 " Bout as much likelihood of that as there is o seein 
 that hoof o mine made to look like a human bein s,"
 
 362 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 scoffed Olin, thrusting out his club foot, and regarding 
 it with hopeless eyes. 
 
 "Oh! there s many a worse foot in the world than 
 that, Olin," said Margaret; " and many a one that looks 
 all right that s not half as quick to run on kindly 
 errands. Mother Miller says that you are her main de 
 pendence now that old Caasar is so nearly bedridden. 
 I don t know what the neighborhood would do without 
 you and Silas. But tell us more about the fleet." 
 
 Olin, however, had already told all that he knew. 
 The ships were riding at anchor in the bay, but what 
 object they had in coming was wholly a matter of con 
 jecture. 
 
 But presently it became known that the fleet was a 
 part of the squadron that was blockading Newport 
 under Admiral Arbuthnot, and that the admiral had 
 chosen Gardiner s Bay for his winter quarters. 
 
 The news at first caused a good deal of apprehension ; 
 and it is recorded in the village chronicles that Tom 
 Davis, who a few weeks before had married Mary Con- 
 klin of Amagansett, was so fearful of being obliged to 
 swear allegiance to King George, that he procured a 
 small sailboat, and taking his bride and her wedding 
 outfit, together with a seven-pail brass kettle, without 
 which no well-regulated family thought it possible to 
 keep house, ran the blockade, under cover of night, and 
 set out for Stonington, where he arrived safely the fol 
 lowing morning. 
 
 But it was soon found that the admiral was a man of 
 much the same stamp as Sir William Erskine ; while
 
 A GALA DAY. 363 
 
 among his officers and men there was comparatively lit 
 tle of the lawlessness that had characterized the troops 
 that had quartered in the Hamptons. For services ren 
 dered, as well as for provisions furnished in response to 
 the weekly requisitions, a fair compensation was made ; 
 and long before the winter was over, the villagers had 
 almost ceased to regard the new neighbors as enemies. 
 Like his predecessors, however, the admiral believed in 
 enforcing the oath, and for this purpose a command was 
 ^issued for the assembling of all who were capable of 
 carrying arms. 
 
 "Thought we d got through with that," said Silas 
 Post, who with several others had thus far managed to 
 evade this requirement. 
 
 " Like to see em make me do it," scoffed Ike 
 Bennett. And when at the appointed time the officer 
 commissioned to compel allegiance undertook to teach 
 Bennett the prescribed formula, a ludicrous scene oc 
 curred. 1 
 
 "Now, then, man, repeat after me the words that I 
 use," he commanded. " If you practise any evasion 
 you will be properly punished, I promise you that." 
 
 " If you practise any evasion you will be properly 
 punished, I promise you that, : repeated Bennett 
 promptly. 
 
 " Simpleton ! " cried the officer. 
 
 " Simpleton ! " echoed Bennett. 
 
 "The fellow s a fool," snapped the angry Briton. 
 And when Bennett, with the utmost gravity, repeated 
 
 1 This is an actual occurrence.
 
 364 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 the words, the others set up such a shout that the offi 
 cer, thoroughly disgusted with the whole proceeding, 
 adjourned the appointment indefinitely. 
 
 "Better let them alone," he advised his brother offi 
 cers. "They re as peaceable as lambs as long as 
 they re left to go their own gait, but undertake to drive 
 em and they re as contrary as mules." 
 
 It was not long after this that the exciting announce 
 ment was made that the officers were planning a recep 
 tion to be given on shipboard in honor of the young 
 gentlewomen of the village, all of whom were to be 
 invited. 
 
 "But of course none of us expect to go," said Amy 
 Mulford, who with her father and sister was calling at 
 the Thurstons ; and her tone clearly indicated that she 
 thought it a great pity. 
 
 "Indeed, you must all go," said the captain deci 
 sively. "When an enemy is so kindly disposed, there 
 is nothing gained by carrying too stiff a backbone. Go, 
 by all means, and let them see that as long as they con 
 duct themselves like gentlemen you are willing to recog 
 nize them as such." 
 
 Amy s eyes danced. This was more than she had 
 dared to hope. To these village maidens, debarred 
 from all the legitimate pastimes and recreations of girl 
 hood, the accounts of the preparations that were being 
 made for this novel entertainment had proved so fasci 
 nating, that, loyal as they were, they could not help 
 longing to be present. But not one of them had ven 
 tured to put the longing into words.
 
 A GALA DAY. 365 
 
 "It is rumored," remarked Hannah Mulford, "that 
 the officers are intending to present each guest with some 
 kind of a gift as a sort of a souvenir ; that is, if the guests 
 don t object." 
 
 "Why should they object?" said her father. "The 
 gift is evidently to be proffered simply as a token of 
 hospitality and friendliness ; and since here at the East 
 End we are practically, for the time at least, a con 
 quered people, it ill behooves us to anger the enemy 
 with any uncalled-for show of pride." 
 1 Margaret had listened in silence. She had no wish 
 to keep the others from going ; but for her the remem 
 brance of those black ships, with their wan-faced crews, 
 at anchor in the Wallabout, was still too vivid to let her 
 think with any pleasure of taking part in the merry 
 making. 
 
 " But the lieutenant is here, Meg, Lieutenant Bur 
 ton," said Betty Osgood, who had come in while the 
 subject was under debate. " He is to be at the enter 
 tainment." 
 
 But not even the lieutenant himself could prevail on 
 her to go. And so it chanced that on the eventful day, 
 when the lieutenant led off in the first dance, Betty was 
 his partner. 
 
 The vessel on which the reception was given was 
 gayly decorated, and beneath the silken awnings the 
 young feet went merrily to the strains of " Guilderoy " 
 and "Money Musk." And in the midst of the decorous 
 festivities Priest Buell came aboard, and looked on with 
 kindly tolerance.
 
 366 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 It was a picture pleasant to look at if one could 
 only forget for the officers were gorgeously arrayed in 
 gold and scarlet, and not all the guests by any means were 
 dressed in homespun. Such a ransacking of old chests 
 as there had been ! Such a bringing to light of fab 
 rics that had been lying for years wrapped in rose-leaves 
 and lavender, their very existence almost forgotten by 
 their owners, so little call had there been for anything 
 so fine and rare ! And then such ripping and refitting, 
 such planning and contriving ! And some of the cos 
 tumes thus evolved were worn with so quaint a grace 
 that more than one young Briton became for the time a 
 conquered foe. 
 
 "If we had been each a princess they couldn t have 
 treated us with more deference," said Amy Mulford, in 
 describing the entertainment to Miss Hitty Hand. " But 
 what do you think my souvenir was? I opened the 
 package with fear and trembling, and behold, it was ten 
 yards of English print." 
 
 " Well, I hope you don t intend to keep it," said Miss 
 Hitty with patriotic severitv. 
 
 " Indeed I do," answered Amy. " I intend to pass it 
 down to my grandchildren as a trophy won in war by the 
 arts of peace." l 
 
 Early the next day Betty ran in. " O Meg, you don t 
 know what you missed ! " she exclaimed. " We never 
 had anything to equal it. And the lieutenant oh, the 
 
 1 Many a legend connected with this reception and the gifts presented to the 
 guests has been handed down among the old Easthampton families. The author is 
 indebted for the story to a descendant of Ezekiel Mulford.
 
 A GALA DAY. 367 
 
 lieutenant was magnificent ! I wish you could have seen 
 him." And for an hour Betty babbled on. 
 
 Margaret listened with girlish interest, and her face lost 
 something of its sadness. 
 
 " It must indeed have been pleasant/ And then the 
 shadow came back. " But, O Betty, Betty," she cried, 
 " to think of those other ships ! "
 
 368 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 TRAITOR AND SPY. 
 
 DON know s I ever see the leaves so red as they 
 be this fall," said Olin Dole. "Look at that 
 tangle o wild blackberries, red s if there d be n a battle 
 fought there ! An that woodbine runnin up that cedar s 
 redder yet. Tain t a good sign. Some folks seem to 
 think the war s kind o drawin to an end, but s my "pinion 
 we re goin to have more bloodshed." 
 
 " Oh! stop your croakin , Ole," said his friend Silas. 
 " Trouble with you is you can t see but one thing at a 
 time. Now, the way I look at it, there s jus as much 
 white as there is red ; and if you re goin in for signs, you 
 might as well take one thing as another. See that great 
 patch of Ingin posy yunder, white as snow ; an look at 
 the blue overhead, man. See? Well, there you have 
 it, the red, white, and blue, an them three colors together s 
 what s goin to win. And then there s the stars. 1 s 
 lookin at em only las night. You know twas putty 
 lowerin the firs o the evenin . Well, I s kind o gazin 
 up to see what twas goin to do, an all of a sudden there 
 come a break in the clouds, and there in the middle was 
 thirteen stars a-shinin down. I numbered em over twice 
 to make sure ; and then the clouds begun to curl back
 
 TRAITOR. AND SPY. 369 
 
 their edges, an twasn t long fore the stars was comin 
 faster n I could count em ; an that, too, I take it, is a 
 sign. Some folks think thirteen s an onlucky number, 
 but the colonies ain t goin to be thirteen al ays. They 
 ain t got to their limit yet, not by a long shot. I m goin 
 in here," he added, halting at the Thurstons gate. 
 " I ve got sompin to tell em sompin they ll be mighty 
 sorry to hear. Come along in if you want to." 
 
 Margaret and her grandfather were sitting on the 
 porch, Margaret with her knitting, and the old man with 
 a book. 
 
 "Ah, Silas," said the Quaker, " thou rt just in time 
 to hear what Friend Fox saith concerning what! the 
 young major ! Art sure thou hast been rightly in 
 formed, Silas?" For Silas, intent on his tidings, had 
 not waited to hear the message from Fox. 
 
 " That s what they say ; that he s been took as a spy. 
 An that ain t the worst of it. They say t Gen ra.1 
 Benedict Arnold was in league with him." 
 
 " O Silas, Silas, you surely are not in earnest ! " cried 
 Margaret, her face white with horror. 
 
 "I only wish I wasn t; but the way the news come 
 there ain t much room for jokin about it. Cap n Wick- 
 ham got word somehow to ol Squire Osborn, an I had 
 it from him. We ain t got all the pertic lars : but it seems 
 they were plannin to hand over West Point an the High 
 lands to the British, an they say Gen ral Clinton s doing 
 everything under the heavens to git the major pardoned. 
 But tain t likely Gen al Washington s forgot the way they 
 treated young Cap n Hale."
 
 370 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Against the azure sky a maple-tree stretched out a 
 golden banner, and at intervals a ripe leaf parted from 
 it, and dropped like a dead butterfly through the wind 
 less air; not even the throbbing of the surf was audible. 
 The stillness was so intense that to Margaret it seemed 
 as if nature itself were listening for the sentence. 
 
 It was not possible that one apparently so friendly and 
 sincere had been guilty of anything worthy of death ! 
 And Arnold ! 
 
 " Oh, that he had perished with Wooster ! " she cried. 
 " Then his country would have held him always in 
 honor as one of the bravest of her patriots. But now ! " 
 
 " O war ! war ! these are thy fruits ! : moaned the old 
 Quaker. "But let us not talk of it; it is too terrible, 
 and possibly it may yet be contradicted." 
 
 But already the young major had paid the penalty of 
 his bold intrigue, and the traitor s name had become 
 linked for all time with that of Judas Iscariot. 
 
 " We have had a letter from Nathaniel," said Colonel 
 Gardiner, a fortnight later. " He writes that, in com 
 pany with Colonel Tallmadge, he spent the night before 
 the execution with Major Andre, in his prison. 1 It was 
 their first and last meeting. lie says that the major ac 
 cepted his sentence manfully. Ah, he was a royal fel 
 low. It seems a great pity that he couldn t have been 
 pardoned." 
 
 " Ay and yet," said the old Quaker, " the sentence 
 was doubtless just -according to the usages of war." 
 
 1 This is a well-authenticated fact. Colonel Tallmadge was an East End man, 
 being a native of Setauket.
 
 A WOUNDED ENEMY. 371 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 A WOUNDED ENEMY. 
 
 A LL that winter Admiral Arbuthnot remained in Gar- 
 -T~x diner s Bay, and proved so pleasant a neighbor 
 that when, with the approach of spring, it was found that 
 the fleet was preparing to weigh anchor, the villagers 
 were seized with the fear that troops less friendly might 
 be sent to take its place. The British, however, just at 
 this time had matters of too great importance in hand to 
 admit of their keeping much of a force at the East End, 
 and comparatively few soldiers were seen in the place 
 during the following spring and summer. 
 
 " This monotony is dreadful," sighed Betty Osgood. 
 
 She had been out with Margaret .and Deborah, with 
 old Neb for a protector, gathering bayberries for can 
 dles the scarcity of tallow had made the bayberries 
 a boon ; and as they were passing Nat Dominy s shop 
 Margaret remembered that her grandfather had asked 
 her to leave a message in regard to the new clock. 
 
 " Don t wait for me," she said. " I sha n t mind go 
 ing the rest of the way alone." And as it was nearing 
 dinner-time, the girls went on. 
 
 "If the war lasts much longer the clock will be old 
 before it s done," said Mr. Dominy, when Margaret had
 
 3/2 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 told her errand. "I want to put a rising sun over the 
 dial; but here I am neither paint nor picture, and not 
 even a pane of glass to be had this side of York, nor a 
 hand of any kind, brass or steel." 
 
 " The war keeps everything waiting," answered Mar 
 garet with a sigh. 
 
 As she turned to go she caught sight of two men in 
 officers uniforms on the opposite side of the street, and 
 saw to her dismay that they were crossing over. There 
 was no way of exit by which she could escape them ; 
 but close beside her stood the tall clock-case, and with 
 a whispered warning to Mr. Dominy, she slipped inside. 
 As the case had not been boarded up at the back, she 
 found ample room for her slender figure ; and she had 
 scarcely closed the door when she heard the men enter 
 the shop. 
 
 " My friend here wishes to order a clock to take to 
 England," said one of them in a bantering tone ; and 
 Margaret at once recognized the voice as that of Lieu 
 tenant Burton. 
 
 "Ay, ay," responded the other; "I want it as a 
 trophy to show the home folk what sort of rebels we ve 
 conquered." 
 
 " Maybe it would be as well to wait till you finish up 
 the job before giving your order," said the clockmaker 
 dryly. "Perhaps by that time it ll be easier to get 
 materials." 
 
 " Oh ! we re near enough to ; t " retorted the man con 
 fidently. "I fancy you benighted natives down at this 
 end of the Island haven t yet heard what we ve been
 
 A WOUNDED ENEMY. 373 
 
 doing at the South. Lord Cormvallis has swept every 
 thing before him, and twon t be long till his Majesty s 
 troops have full dominion." 
 
 "Come, come, Ilowson, keep your boasts for another 
 day," protested the lieutenant. " Can you tell us where 
 we can find two good horses to carry us to the Harbor? " 
 he asked, turning to Dominy. "We are in haste to get 
 across to New London." 
 
 Mr. Dominy picked up a file from the work-bench, 
 and poked it reflectively through his iron-gray locks. 
 
 " Horses have become a skerce article on the East 
 End," he said. " But they have a team at the tavern 
 that perhaps might answer your purpose. A trifle slow, 
 maybe, but as sure as an hour-hand in getting to their 
 destination." 
 
 "Bah! we know all about tavern horses," sneered 
 Captain Ilowson. " Might as well saddle a pair of 
 sawbucks. I fancy if we take the trouble to look about 
 we shall be able to find something a little more to our 
 mind." 
 
 At that Margaret remembered with a start that she had 
 given Rick leave to take Lion to the pond to water him ; 
 and while she was longing for the power to immaterialize 
 herself, she discovered behind the clock a window that 
 looked into Mr. Dominy s vegetable garden. Happily 
 it was open, and the next moment she was flying home 
 ward. 
 
 And it was none too soon, for there was Rick leading 
 Lion to the bars. 
 
 "Back, Rick, back!" she cried. "The redcoats
 
 374 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 are coming ! " But Lord Lion, at the sound of her voice, 
 pulled away from his little groom, and clearing the bars 
 at a bound, came prancing and whinnying to meet her. 
 
 " Let down the bars, Rick, quick ! " she called. But 
 the two officers were not far behind her, and Captain 
 Howson had already caught sight of Lion. 
 
 " Aw, there s just the animal I want!" she heard him 
 exclaim. " Egad, but he s a beauty ! " 
 
 "Hold, captain!" cried the lieutenant. "That one 
 belongs to a lady, and Sir William Erskine when in com 
 mand here gave strict orders that no one was to meddle 
 with him." 
 
 " A fig for Sir William s orders ! " flouted the captain. 
 " If he wanted them obeyed, he should have stayed where 
 he could see to enforcing them." And hurrying forward, 
 he laid a rough hand on Lion s halter. 
 
 The lieutenant made haste to overtake him, but Cap 
 tain Howson was a man who brooked no interference 
 from an inferior. 
 
 " Stand back, sir, if you please," he said curtly. " I ll 
 take the responsibility of this." 
 
 But Lord Lion, too, was one who resented any inter 
 ference from an inferior; and throwing up his head 
 with a snort, he made a dash for the barnyard, leaving 
 the gallant captain gazing after him empty handed. 
 
 " Can you tell me what this means, Lieutenant Bur 
 ton?" asked Margaret. 
 
 " Pardon me, but my friend, Captain Howson, Miss 
 Neale," stammered the unhappy lieutenant. "We are 
 in want of horses to take us to the Harbor, and at the
 
 A WOUNDED ENEMY. 375 
 
 sight of Lord Lion my friend lost his heart," he ended 
 with a smile. 
 
 " Oh ! for that purpose you will have no difficulty, I 
 think, in getting horses at the inn," answered Margaret 
 with quiet dignity. And then, as if the matter were set 
 tled, she stooped to lift the end of the bar that Rick was 
 trying to put in its socket. 
 
 The lieutenant sprang forward to help her. 
 
 "Wait one moment," cried the captain. "We are 
 expected in Connecticut to-night ; and unless we have 
 horses that can make better time than those kept at the 
 inn, we shall miss our boat/ 
 
 " I am sorry to seem ungracious," said Margaret, 
 straightening herself, "but" 
 
 "There s no time to waste on ceremony," interposed 
 Captain Howson, with a curtness that made Burton grit 
 his teeth. "I must have the horse saddled at once. I 
 only wish you had two of them." 
 
 "For Heaven s sake, Howson, wait until we have 
 looked elsewhere," urged the lieutenant. "This is no 
 way to treat a lady," he added in an undertone. 
 
 The captain turned on him with an oath. "Go find 
 yourself a horse, and be quick about it, or Til have you 
 reported for wilful delay." And the lieutenant discreetly 
 hurried off. 
 
 Margaret, meanwhile, had stepped across the lower 
 bar, and shoved the others into place. But Captain 
 Howson vaulted over without seeming to see her. 
 
 c* 
 
 "Come, boy, bring out that horse," he cried, snap 
 ping his \vhip-lash over Rick s head. But Rick, who
 
 376 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 had shut the stable-door and planted himself against it, 
 remained as immovable as a bronze statue. 
 
 "Pardon me," said Margaret, putting herself beside 
 Rick, "the boy is not used to receiving orders from a 
 stranger." 
 
 " Then, it s high time he learned to do it when the 
 stranger is one in authority," returned the captain loftily. 
 "Stand aside, will you?" this to Rick, who had boldly 
 stepped in front of Margaret. But the boy did not stir. 
 
 " Yo Rick! what yo s up to now?" called Ilagar 
 from the back door. 
 
 " I s tectin my girl," answered Rick, drawing up his 
 small figure. " Don yo be af eared, Miss Marge. I 
 isn t goin to let im hurt yo ." And by that time Ilagar 
 had taken in the situation, and snatching up her broom 
 stick, she made a dash for the stable. 
 
 And now the opposing force began to look somewhat 
 formidable. The captain, as he contemplated it, mut 
 tered several unpleasant words. But at that moment 
 Mistress Prudence appeared, and he knew at a glance 
 that she was on his side. 
 
 "Pray, what is the meaning of this disturbance?" 
 she asked, turning to the trio of guards in front of the 
 stable-door, after a reverential courtesy to the wearer of 
 the red uniform. 
 
 But the captain preferred to explain for himself. 
 
 "I have simply asked the loan of a horse, madam, 
 being in haste to get to the Harbor ; and if you have 
 any authority over this boy, I trust you will order him 
 to lead out the animal at once."
 
 A WOUNDED ENEMY. 377 
 
 " Do you hear what the gentleman says?" And Pru 
 dence seized Rick by the shoulder, and gave him a vig 
 orous shake. 
 
 " But it is Lord Lion he wants, Aunt Prudence," 
 said Margaret. 
 
 "And is Lord Lion too good, I should like to know, 
 to be ridden by one of his Majesty s officers? I should 
 feel honored in having him put to such a use if he were 
 mine." 
 
 Before Margaret could reply, her grandfather had 
 joined the group, coining noiselessly from behind the 
 barn. 
 
 "Friend, what is thy errand?" he inquired, calmly 
 facing the angry officer. And when the captain, with 
 added energy, had restated the case, the old man turned 
 to Rick. 
 
 "Rick, go in and saddle the horse." Rick, with his 
 white-rimmed eyes, flashed back an understanding 
 glance. In the family Lord Lion was still called the 
 colt ; and presently, while the old Quaker was suavely 
 " thouing " the officer with inquiries concerning the 
 progress of the war, Rick, who, small as he was, had 
 learned to manage a saddle, triumphantly led out old 
 Vic. 
 
 "That s not the beast I ordered, you little imp!" 
 thundered the captain, white with rage. 
 
 "Nay, friend; but such as he is, thou rt welcome to 
 "iim," answered the Quaker with exasperating mildness. 
 He will carry thee safely to the Harbor, and thou canst 
 jave him at Friend Coleman s."
 
 378 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 But the captain, with another oath, wheeled about, and 
 sprung over the bars. 
 
 " No wonder he is angered ! " Prudence exclaimed, as 
 he rushed across the street. " To have a trick like that 
 put upon him ! " 
 
 " But thou knowest, Prudence, that the colt is not 
 accustomed to having strangers ride him." 
 
 " Then it is high time he was broken to it," answered 
 Prudence. 
 
 " Put the horse back in his stall, Rick," said the old 
 man, " since the stranger is not suited with him." 
 
 But Rick had barely started to lead Vic to the stable, 
 when the captain reappeared, accompanied by Colonel 
 Gardiner. 
 
 " I came to see if you would be kind enough to loan 
 Lord Lion to this gentleman for a few hours," said the 
 colonel, addressing Margaret. " He is in haste to reach 
 the Harbor, and good roadsters are not easy to find now 
 adays. I have just loaned my own saddle-horse to Lieu 
 tenant Burton. Tobe is going along to bring him home 
 from the Harbor ; and if you are willing to let Lord Lion 
 go, the boy can bring both of them back." 
 
 " It depends chiefly on Lord Lion s willingness," re 
 plied Margaret, heartily wishing that the colonel had 
 stayed away. " He is not apt to take kindly to stran 
 gers." 
 
 "I ll risk being able to manage him," said the cap 
 tain, stiffly. "I have never yet seen the horse that I 
 was not able to master, whether he fancied me or not." 
 
 "I promise to be responsible for his safe return,"
 
 A WOUNDED ENEMY. 3/9 
 
 urged the colonel; " and the captain, I am sure, is too 
 good a horseman to have any trouble with him." 
 
 Margaret without a word beckoned to Rick, and went 
 with him to the stable. But when Lord Lion was -led 
 out, saddled and bridled, he began to rear and plunge 
 the moment the stranger approached him ; and it was not 
 until Margaret had reasoned with him that he grew quiet 
 enough to be mounted. 
 
 The captain in his haste dropped his whip. 
 
 " It may be well for thee to remember that he is not 
 used to either lash or spur," cautioned the old Quaker. 
 
 " He will doubtless become used to them by the time 
 we reach the Harbor," snarled the captain. " Boy, 
 hand me that whip." 
 
 Rick picked up the whip, and eyed it admiringly. 
 " Dat s a mighty line one, marse," he said, giving it an 
 innocent little flourish as he restored it to the stranger. 
 
 The next instant Lord Lion s heels were in the air ; 
 and before his rider had adapted himself to this unex 
 pected posture, his lordship had reversed matters, and 
 was, as Rick expressed it, " stan in straight on his tail." 
 The captain was really too skilful a horseman to be 
 easily vanquished ; but Lion had now begun to practise 
 his war-dance, and presently the boastful Briton found 
 himself seated on the ground. 
 
 " I ll master the brute if I have to break his neck in 
 doing it," he declared, clutching savagely at the bridle. 
 But as he spoke Lieutenant Burton dashed up on Cap 
 tain Mulford s roan, while behind him came Tobe, lead 
 ing the colonel s horse.
 
 380 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Here, Captain, here are two line animals, and you 
 can take your choice," he cried. "It s an ill time to 
 undertake to break a colt, just as one is starting on a 
 journey, especially if one s in any haste." 
 
 The captain s only answer was an oath. He was still 
 bent on conquering Lion. 
 
 " And unless we hasten," added the lieutenant, " I m 
 afraid we shall find no boat to take us across." 
 
 Lord Lion was backing toward the stable, with th< 
 captain hanging to the halter. Lord Lion never in 
 dulged in viciousness. It is a mean-spirited animal 
 that condescends to bite and kick. When Lord Lion 
 objected to a person, he simply gave him to understand 
 that he preferred to have him keep at a respectful 
 distance. 
 
 "Perhaps he would be more willing to submit to 
 Lieutenant Burton," said Margaret, demurely. " lie 
 is somewhat acquainted with the lieutenant." 
 
 The captain glared at her; but time was flying. 
 
 "Then let the lieutenant mount him !" he cried. "lie 
 will have to submit to one or other of us. I m not going 
 to leave him behind, I can tell you that. He is just the 
 horse I want. When I have once conquered him, he will 
 know his master ; and instead of borrowing him I am 
 going to buy him, so you will please name your price." 
 
 Margaret listened to this cool statement with flashing 
 eyes. But a cry from Lieutenant Burton arrested her 
 retort. As he was about to dismount, the roan had 
 shied, and he had come to the ground with his foot 
 doubled under him.
 
 A WOUNDED ENEMY. 381 
 
 " I m afraid I m done for, Captain," he groaned, try 
 ing in vain to straighten his leg. 
 
 "Nonsense, man!" remonstrated the captain with in 
 creasing wrath. " What sort of a soldier are you to let 
 yourself be disabled by a little tumble like that? Come, 
 we must start at once." 
 
 The lieutenant made another effort to rise, but grew 
 \vhite to the lips with pain. 
 
 " It s no use, Captain," he said, steadying himself 
 against the hitching-post. "You will have to go with 
 out me. If it isn t fractured it is badly sprained ; and in 
 either case I m crippled for to-day, at least." 
 
 The captain fell to swearing again. 
 
 " Pity you couldn t have taken some other time for 
 your accident," he jeered. " But since you re bound to 
 stay, keep an eye on that animal, will you? As soon 
 as this affair at New Lon on is over with I shall be back 
 for him." And mounting the colonel s horse he set off 
 on a gallop, without even the formality of a parting bow. 
 
 " He s a boor," said the lieutenant, under his breath, 
 to Margaret; while the colonel called to Tobe, and 
 charged him to follow on as fast as possible, and not to 
 fail to bring back the horse. 
 
 And now Prudence turned her attention to the lieu 
 tenant. In spite of her shrewish disposition she was an 
 excellent nurse ; and finding that he was unable to help 
 himself, she had him taken at once to the house. For 
 ordinary ailments she had a store of simples on hand, 
 with no end of salves and liniments of her own com 
 pounding, and was skilled in dressing burns and wounds ;
 
 382 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 but the lieutenant s injury baffled her, and Dr. Sage was 
 sent for. 
 
 "It is a fractured ankle," said the young doctor; 
 " and you re fortunate in being in such comfortable 
 quarters, for the probability is that it will be three weeks 
 at least before you will be able to walk ; but no perma 
 nent harm is likely to result." 
 
 "Thank God!" ejaculated the lieutenant fervently. 
 And no one suspected that it was for something besides 
 deliverance from the fear of being crippled for life that 
 he was giving thanks. 
 
 "Oh! there is no danger whatever," the doctor added 
 confidently. "With proper care it will soon be as sound 
 as before." His eyes were following Margaret as he 
 spoke ; and looking from his fair young countrywoman 
 to the handsome lieutenant, it occurred to him that it 
 would be nothing strange if a romance resulted from this 
 episode, and he was distinctly conscious that the possi 
 bility was not quite to his liking. 
 
 Margaret would have preferred to have the young 
 officer taken elsewhere, but her aunt protested that it. 
 would be a breach of hospitality ; and seeing that her 
 grandfather w r as inclined to agree with her, the girl tried 
 to make the best of it. 
 
 Meanwhile Colonel Gardiner was watching anxiously 
 for Tobe ; but it was nine o clock in the evening before 
 he came. 
 
 "Where s the horse?" asked the colonel, for the boy 
 was on foot. " Didn t you get there before the boat 
 started?"
 
 A WOUNDED ENEMY. 383 
 
 " Yes ir, Marse Ab am, I obertooked im on de warve ; 
 but yo see dat cap n, he say he want o keep im till he 
 kim ag in, so he jus , ship im board de boat, an der 
 wa n t no way I could git im cept I shoot de cap n, an 
 I didn t hab no orders fo dat, sides not habin no gun." 
 
 " Oh ! he ll doubtless bring him home all right, Tobe," 
 answered the colonel with forced optimism. But the 
 horse never saw his own stall again.
 
 384 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 A BLACK CLOUD. 
 
 r I^HE lieutenant though Mistress Prudence ex- 
 -L hausted her resources in trying to entertain him, 
 and Poll, the parrot, at every mention of King George 
 shrieked loyally, "God save the King!" -began be 
 fore the day ended to find his duress wearisome. In his 
 heart he could not help charging Margaret with deliber 
 ate cruelty in leaving him to the tender mercies of Mrs. 
 Golby ; for Margaret, on hearing the doctor s opinion, 
 had withdrawn in haste, dismayed at the prospect of 
 having the lieutenant in the house for three long weeks. 
 Why was he not taken to the colonel s? lie surely 
 could have been carried that distance without being 
 harmed. While she was lamenting matters, her Cousin 
 Betty came tripping in. Betty had heard nothing of the 
 accident ; and to find the young lieutenant stretched on 
 the settle, and the room pervaded with a suggestion of 
 drugs, was a surprise that drove all the color from her 
 cheeks. 
 
 The patient beamed a welcome ; and presently Mis 
 tress Prudence, finding herself in the background, stiffly 
 withdrew, and Poll at once ceased her clamor ; while 
 Margaret, having prevailed on Betty to lay aside her hat
 
 A BLACK CLOUD. 385 
 
 and mantle, seated herself cosily with her knitting. With 
 such as these to bear him company the lieutenant felt 
 that he could bide his time with very good grace. And 
 as Madge, too, considered the visit a godsend, it was 
 almost night before Betty was allowed to go. 
 
 " Pray take pity on your cousin and come again to 
 morrow," entreated the young man, with an urgency 
 that more than restored her lost color, and sent her on 
 her way with a thrill at her heart. 
 
 " Oh, do, Betty ! come as often as you can," entreated 
 Margaret, going with her to the gate. " It is hard work 
 to entertain an invalid, and we shall want all the help we 
 can get," she added, feeling that Betty s presence would 
 insure her own safety. It did not occur to her that it 
 might involve danger for any one else. 
 
 The air was refreshing ; and Margaret, glad to be out, 
 linked her arm in Betty s, and went with her down the 
 grass-grown street. 
 
 "Look what a strange, dark cloud!" cried Betty, 
 pointing northward. " I m afraid a storm is gathering." 
 
 " It is more like a dense mass of smoke," said Mar 
 garet, in a startled voice. 
 
 As they were passing the graveyard Priest Buell over 
 took them. 
 
 "What can it be, Mr. Buell?" asked Margaret. 
 
 " That is more than I can tell, my child. I have 
 been studying it the last two hours, but it baffles me. It 
 has hung there all the afternoon like a black pall." 
 
 Betty suggested that it might be caused by fire at the 
 Harbor. But the minister shook his head.
 
 386 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " If it were as near as that it would be more luminous. 
 It may be that some of the ships on the Sound have taken 
 fire, but an entire fleet would hardly make so dense a 
 smoke." 
 
 It was useless to conjecture, and with a vague fear 
 Margaret said good-night and turned back. When she 
 reached the house, she found her grandfather in the yard 
 watching the cloud. 
 
 " I know not what to make of it," he said. " Hagar 
 called my attention to it, fearing that a tempest was com 
 ing ; but I am afraid it portends something more than 
 either wind or rain." 
 
 When they went indoors he described it to tire lieu 
 tenant. 
 
 " Good God ! So soon ! " cried the young man, start 
 ing up with a white face. 
 
 " Nay, thou needst not fear a thunder-storm," said the 
 old Quaker. "Friend Franklin s kite would draw no 
 lightning from a cloud like that. It hovers above the 
 horizon like the black vapor that I remember in my 
 boyhood hung day and night over the city of London." 
 
 The lieutenant fell back with a stifled moan ; and Mar 
 garet, apprehensive that his foot was paining him, hast 
 ened to readjust the cushions. 
 
 During the evening several of the neighbors came 
 in, and each had some comment to offer concerning the 
 cloud. 
 
 " There is no fire at the Harbor," said Squire Osborn. 
 " I met Big Sam just at dusk returning from there, and 
 he says that it is on the other side of the Sound."
 
 A BLACK CLOUD. 387 
 
 The next morning the cloud had lifted. 
 
 " Guess it ll turn out twasn t anything more n a big 
 fog-bank," said Silas Post. 
 
 But early the following day Ben Coleman came hurry 
 ing from the Harbor with woful tidings. New London 
 had been burned to the ground, and the garrison in Fort 
 Griswold butchered in cold blood. 
 
 Since the day that their own doom was pronounced, no 
 event in the progress of the war had caused such horror 
 apd consternation throughout the East End, for many of 
 the East End families had taken refuge in New London. 
 It aroused also a fear for their own safety ; for rumor 
 said that it was the archtraitor, Benedict Arnold, who, 
 carrying fire and sword into his native State, had reduced 
 the town to ashes ; and what was to prevent this unnat 
 ural foe, in the absence of the kindly enemy who might 
 have protected them, from making a bonfire of every 
 village and hamlet on the East End? 
 
 o 
 
 When the lieutenant heard the story, he turned his 
 face to the wall with a groan. 
 
 "So it was for this that Captain Ilowson was in such 
 haste to cross the Sound ! " cried Margaret, carried out 
 of herself with indignation; "for this vile errand that 
 he wanted my Lord Lion to speed him on his way ! 
 And you knew of it, Lieutenant Burton?" 
 
 "Ay, I knew of it ; and for that reason I gave devout 
 thanks when I found myself disabled. It was a devilish 
 project, and my whole heart was set against it. But 
 I was under orders, and I shudder to think that but for 
 this blessed accident I should have been forced to take
 
 388 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 part in it. If you doubt me, you will be justified in not 
 letting me remain another hour under your roof." 
 
 Margaret listened to him without taking her eyes from 
 his face. She was a good reader of character, and from 
 her first acquaintance with him she had been impressed 
 with his boyish honest-heartedness. 
 
 " I believe you," she said gravely ; and the lieutenant 
 in his gratitude would have kissed the hem of her home 
 spun gown had it been within his reach. 
 
 Later it was learned that the day following the mas 
 sacre at Groton a company of those that had been 
 engaged in it had crossed the Sound and landed at 
 Oysterponds, where their disorderly conduct had caused 
 for the time a reign of terror. 
 
 "They went to Vail s Inn," said Captain Mulford, 
 who was relating the affair, " and carried on like de 
 mons. Mrs. Vail happened to see them before they 
 reached the house ; and remembering that there were 
 two hogsheads of cider in the cellar, she hurried down 
 and knocked out the bungs. Then, having managed to 
 overturn the hogsheads, she went bravely upstairs to 
 meet the soldiers. They came in smeared with blood, 
 and, brandishing their swords, muttered vengeance on 
 American rebels. They bound Mr. Vail, and confined 
 him in the garret, and after ransacking every closet and 
 pantry for something to drink, went to the cellar. There 
 they discovered the cider flooding the floor, and rushing 
 back, they demanded to know why they had been de 
 frauded in this way. Because, answered Mrs. Vail, 
 * you are the enemies of my country. You have no busi-
 
 A BLACK CLOUD. 389 
 
 ness here, and you will not eat in this house if I can 
 prevent it. She had expected violence ; but her courage 
 overawed them, and with a volley of oaths they marched 
 away." 
 
 " Oh ! the Long Island women can t be beat for brav 
 ery," said Silas Post. " I heard Priest Buell tellin 
 t other day about Mrs. Constant L Hommedieu over to 
 Southold. It seems the crews of two whaleboats, twenty 
 in all, landed there ; an after goin to Peck s Inn an 
 gettin putty well filled with liquor, they went to Mr. 
 L Hommedieu s, where they acted so like heathen that 
 Mr. L Hommedieu in a mild way took em to task. That 
 made em mad, and the leader rushed at him with 
 his cutlass. But Mrs. L Hommedieu threw herself be 
 tween em, an saved her husband s life by takin the blow 
 on her bare arm. An there was Major John Corwin s 
 wife, over to Mattituck she was a Mapes, you know, 
 before she married. One mornin a party o soldiers 
 rode up to the house, an demanded o Mrs. Corwin 
 her husband didn t happen to be home some grain for 
 their horses, the officer in command threatenin to send 
 her to destruction if she dared to refuse. But she coolly 
 tol him that she hadn t no food for him or his animals. 
 Well, says he, with a swearin oath, here s a nice 
 piece o wheat across the road ; that ll answer for our 
 horses. An with that he made for the bars. But he 
 didn t know the sort o woman he was dealin with. 
 The first horse that enters that field, says she, I ll 
 shoot dead on the spot. An with that she grabbed her 
 husband s ol King s arm that stood loaded behind the
 
 39 <4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 door, an took aim. An there wasn t a spear o that 
 wheat touched ; an though I ll wager there was some 
 cursin done, they went away praisin her courage. An 
 there s Mis Jessup, over on the hill ; a party of soldiers 
 out on a foragin expedition stopped to her house t other 
 day, an foun t she had a fine berry puddin on the fire 
 cookin for dinner. Hurray, boys ! some of em 
 shouted to the rest, come on ! We re jus in time. - 
 No, you ain t, says Mis Jessup. An with that she 
 grabbed the puddin -pot, an runnin out the side door, 
 thro wed pot an puddin down the hill. She says the 
 men were mad enough to eat her" 1 
 
 "Oh! we can pit the East End women against the 
 world for courage," said Captain Mulford, heartily, 
 " and for everything else that s fine and womanly." 
 
 1 This spot is still known as " Pudding Hill."
 
 SURRENDERED. 391 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 
 
 SURRENDERED. 
 
 IT was slow progress the injured ankle was making 
 toward recovery. The three weeks doubled them- 
 Selves, and the lieutenant was still a prisoner. 
 
 At last, however, Dr. Sage gave his patient permission 
 to try walking with a crutch. But no crutch suited to 
 the lieutenant s height was to be found in the village, and 
 in this emergency Margaret appealed to Silas. 
 
 " Oh ! I ll make him one fast enough, if he ll only make 
 haste an take himself off with it," said Silas. "If 
 there s anything I hate to see, it s a man hobblin roun 
 on a crutch." 
 
 " Oh ! but think how much better that is than not being 
 able to hobble at all," Margaret answered with a smile. 
 "I m sure it never struck me that there was anything 
 especially hateful about it." 
 
 " Oh ! you re different. If it happened to be somebody 
 you liked, you d like him all the same if he had to go on 
 two crutches." 
 
 "If it happened to be somebody I liked, Silas," said 
 the girl, gravely, " I d like him all the same if he were 
 not able to walk at all." 
 
 " Eh, but I wouldn t mind bein in that one s boots,"
 
 392 AN ISLAND HF.ROINE. 
 
 muttered Silas, hobbling off with the lieutenant s meas 
 ure. 
 
 Before noon the next day the crutch was ready for 
 use ; and though the lieutenant at first was somewhat 
 awkward in managing it, he was soon able to tramp 
 about very comfortably. He had an Englishman s fond 
 ness for walking, but he liked company ; and hence it 
 happened that the old Quaker often joined him in his 
 strolls. As they were about to start out one afternoon 
 they met Betty Osgood at the door. 
 
 "Why not go with us? " said the lieutenant, loath to be 
 off, since Betty was untying her hat-strings. "And you 
 too," he added persuasively, turning to Margaret. 
 
 "Ay, it will do thee good, little one," said her grand 
 father. And Margaret, seeing that Betty was beaming 
 with eagerness, readily accepted the invitation. 
 
 It was late in October, but the air was deliciously warm 
 and balmy ; and the little company, breathing in its sweet 
 ness, went leisurely, and with no lack of cheerful converse, 
 along the sandy road that led to the beach. 
 
 They found the sea breaking in silvery ripples, with a 
 soft-toned sky above it that in the distance lost itself in 
 a purple mist ; and in the enchantment of the hour, they 
 loitered till the sun was almost down. Even then they 
 turned reluctantly; and on reaching the Shark s Head, 
 Burton, feeling somewhat fagged, proposed their resting 
 for a few moments. Betty and her grandfather stopped 
 very willingly, but Margaret walked on. The Shark s 
 Head was sacred to her from its association with Lodo- 
 wick. The last stroll they had taken together they had
 
 SURRENDERED. 393 
 
 lingered there for an hour in the twilight, listening to 
 the sea s anthem. What weary years had intervened 
 years that had robbed her of life s joy, and made her 
 forget that she was still young ! 
 
 She was brought back from her revery by the sound 
 >f heavy hoofs. A man on horseback, who, seeing the 
 little party by the pond, had turned from the highway, 
 was forging toward them across the stretch of yielding 
 sand. And what was it he was shouting? 
 
 "Surrendered! Surrendered!" That was the only 
 \vord that she could catch at first, and her heart almost 
 stopped beating. Who had surrendered? Not Wash 
 ington ! O God, not Washington ! 
 
 But now the herald had come nearer, and was wildly 
 waving his cap, and his voice rang out like a clarion : 
 
 " Cornwallis has surrendered! Cornwallis with all 
 his forces has surrendered at Yorktown ! " 
 
 He was too impatient to spread the tidings to wait to 
 answer questions ; and as he spurred on, Margaret sped 
 back to the Shark s Head. 
 
 The others had sprung to their feet, and stood gazing 
 in bewilderment at the vanishing horseman. 
 
 "Did you hear?" she cried. "Thev have surren 
 dered ! Cornwallis and all his troops have surrendered 
 at Yorktown ! " 
 
 "Ah, thy hearing must have been at fault, child," 
 said her grandfather. "The news is much too good to 
 be probable. Some one has evidently surrendered, but 
 I fear it will prove to be a part of our own army." 
 
 " Nay, her ears have not deceived her," said the lieu-
 
 394 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 tenant quietly. " I heard the words distinctly : * Corn- 
 wallis has surrendered ! and I grieve for England s 
 defeat. But God grant it may bring peace." 
 
 "Ay, peace and good will," responded the old man. 
 As he spoke, the lieutenant s crutch slipped to the ground, 
 and Betty sprang forward and restored it ; and then with 
 one accord they turned homeward. But it was only 
 Betty now that kept time with the lieutenant ; for Mar 
 garet walked ahead with her grandfather, and the latter 
 was stepping off as if he had caught the sound of life 
 and drum. 
 
 And now there was no longer room for doubt ; for the 
 neighbors, beside themselves with joy, shouted lustily to 
 them as they passed : " Have you heard the news? The 
 British have surrendered ! Cornwallis is taken ! " And 
 here was Priest Buell coming in haste to meet them, 
 with his face aglow and without a thought of the havoc 
 that the wind was making with his venerable wig. 1 
 
 "Ah, you know it!" he cried. "I see it in your 
 eyes. Surely such a victory is a presage of peace." 
 
 Margaret was content to let her grandfather make all 
 the responses, for her heart was too full for speech. 
 Betty and the lieutenant had not yet overtaken them. 
 
 " It will be hard, I fear," said the minister, " for the 
 young Englishman to rejoice with us." 
 
 "Perhaps thou rt right; but from the signs, Friend 
 Buell," answered the old Quaker with a shrewd smile, 
 "I judge that he, too, has surrendered." 
 
 l Priest Buell s wig is still in existence, and sometimes makes its appearance in 
 private theatricals.
 
 A BELATED FISHERMAN. 395 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 A BELATED FISHERMAN. 
 
 IN the course of a fortnight some of the particulars of 
 the surrender reached the East End, and helped to 
 Strengthen the conviction that peace was not far off. 
 
 "But the war will not be over, no matter who sur 
 renders," said Ezekiel Mulford, who with two or three 
 others was discussing the situation one evening with the 
 old Quaker, " until England acknowledges our inde 
 pendence. And when that is established, no foreigners 
 ought to be admitted who are not willing to support our 
 government. We want it to be a free country, a land 
 of liberty ; but there is no safety where liberty is only 
 another name for license and disloyalty." 
 
 Before any one could respond, the door was thrown 
 open, and a broad-shouldered, rough-bearded young fel 
 low peered in at the group in front of the fire. He wore 
 an old military cloak, and carried a basket on his arm. 
 
 " Hullo ! I declare if tain t Ben ! " shouted Silas Post. 
 
 Every one started up with a quick outcry ; and Pru 
 dence, who had just seated herself comfortably with her 
 knitting, had her arms about Ben s neck before she re 
 membered the uncompromising resolutions that she had 
 so openly reiterated, .
 
 396 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Thou art welcome, Benjamin," said his grandfather, 
 taking both Ben s hands in his; " but thou art rather 
 late with thy fish." 
 
 "Better late than nev.er, grandad," said the young 
 man, setting down his basket. "They re prime ones 
 too, caught this morning in the Thames. We boys 
 started out thinking maybe we d be able to get a mess 
 for Mrs. Angel ; but Cap n Ephraim Fordham happened 
 along, and when he offered to land us at Mulford s wharf 
 at Nor west, we didn t wait for anything. Got any samp 
 porridge or baked beans in the pantry, mother? I m 
 hungry as a Hessian." 
 
 "It s a poor show our pantries make these days," la 
 mented Prudence, as she spread the. table. But Ben 
 found quite enough to stay him for the night. 
 
 "Ben, where did you get that cloak?" whispered 
 Margaret, the moment her aunt s back was turned. 
 "Have you seen Uncle John?" 
 
 "Yes I ve seen him." And Ben stopped and mois 
 tened his lips. "The fellows that captured him be 
 longed to a schooner that was anchored off Gardiner s 
 Island ; and before they could get back to her, Cap n 
 Foster run em down and took all three of em prisoners. 
 So Uncle John got safely back to New London, and was 
 with the militia the day that Arnold burned the town." 
 
 " Do let the boy have a chance to eat a mouthful be 
 fore plying him with questions," said Prudence, coming 
 back with a plate of doughnuts. 
 
 "Oh! I can eat and talk too," declared Ben. But 
 Margaret moved away, and seated herself at the other
 
 A BELATED FISHERMAN. 397 
 
 end of the room. She was quite content to wait now 
 it was so good to know that her uncle had escaped. 
 
 "Come, ol feller, we want to hear where you b en, 
 an what you b en up to all this while," cried Silas, mak 
 ing room on the settle for Ben, as the latter came back 
 to the fireplace. 
 
 "I ve been seeing war," answered Ben slowly; 
 " and the sights have been enough to turn the color of 
 my hair, if it hadn t been warranted," he added with a 
 grim attempt at a smile. " 7Y5 a good while, come to 
 think of it, since that morning we boys went fishing, and 
 a good many things have happened. We drifted about 
 in the bay for two or three hours, keeping a sharp eye 
 out for the enemy ; but there wasn t a sail in sight, and we 
 determined to row across to New London. We had the 
 wind and tide with us, and were making good time, when 
 suddenly a British ship overhauled us, and demanded to 
 know our business. We told them we were out fishing, 
 and Burt held up a flounder to prove it : but finding that 
 we had several implements of war along, they scooped 
 us up without ceremony. By eight o clock New London 
 was in sight, and a little later we came to anchor about 
 half a mile below the town. Fortunately they let us stav 
 on deck ; and when the crew went to their bunks, they 
 left only one man to guard us. lie was a Hessian, and 
 couldn t understand a word we said, and before long he 
 was sound asleep. I rather guess, by the signs, that he 
 had been taking a dram ; for he slept like a log. They d 
 bound our hands ; but as soon as tilings were quiet we 
 managed to free ourselves, and slipping into the water,
 
 398 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 struck out for shore. We went right to Cousin Mercy 
 Angel s ; and though it was almost midnight, she hadn t 
 put out her lights, having a lot of sick soldiers in the 
 house, and she soon had us comfortable. Tell you what, 
 she s rightly named ! 
 
 "We were hoping to be able to enlist, but when we 
 began to make inquiries, everybody urged us to stay 
 and join the militia ; for they wanted all the men they 
 could get, they were so afraid old Tryon would carry 
 out his threat to burn the town. So we stayed. And 
 the attack came sooner than they d looked for. Of 
 course by this time you ve heard about it, but you can t 
 imagine what havoc the wretches made. Not only the 
 churches and business buildings are burned to the 
 ground, but nearly all the dwelling-houses. Mrs. An 
 gel s fared a little better than most of them, but we had 
 a hard tussle to save it. It seemed at one time as if 
 everything would be swept away. But it was at Fort 
 Griswold that the crudest work was done. Colonel Led- 
 yard and his men made a brave defence ; but the enenw 
 at last forced an entrance, and though Colonel Ledyard 
 had ordered his men to lay down their arms, the garri 
 son was slaughtered without mercy. Over eighty of 
 them were put to death with bayonet and musket ; and 
 Colonel Ledyard himself was thrust through with his 
 own sword, which he had just given up to the British 
 officer. Oh, the whole of it was horrible ! " He stopped, 
 and shoved back his chair. 
 
 "I don t believe you want to hear any more about it," 
 he said.
 
 A BELATED FISHERMAN. 399 
 
 " Oh, go on, go on!" cried the listeners greedily. 
 "We hadn t had half the particulars." 
 
 " Ah, it was terrible ! " said the young fellow, with a 
 shudder. " Arnold, as perhaps you know, was the 
 leader ; and while this deadly work was going on in 
 the fort, he rode up and down the streets, cheering on 
 the soldiers ; and they say that after the fire was well 
 under way, he posted himself in a church belfry where 
 he could gloat over the conflagration. They say, too, 
 that he came mighty near having an end put to his in 
 famous course ; for a young woman, crazed with know 
 ing that her father was killed and her home burned, 
 seized a musket, and tried to shoot him. But the gun 
 missed fire, more s the pity. 
 
 "There were several East End people there at the time. 
 Fanny Ledyard, Colonel Ledyard s niece, happened to 
 be over from Southold visiting at his house in Groton. 
 She hurried to the fort as soon as the enemy left it, and 
 the first object she saw was her uncle s body lying in a 
 pool of blood. But instead of fainting away, she went 
 right to work helping those that were still alive. She 
 carried in water, and washed their wounds, and did 
 everything she could to cheer them. A man couldn t 
 have been braver. Mr. Samuel L Hommedieu, who 
 moved from the Harbor to New London soon after the 
 war began, lost nearly all his property in the fire, ex 
 cept a few things that he tumbled into a bedtick and 
 slung across his horse, and so did Cap n Aaron Clark. 
 Silas Cooper, too, who went from Bridgehampton to 
 Groton, lost heavily, and Uncle John Thurston "
 
 400 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Oh, it was a brutal affair from beginning to end ! " 
 cried Captain Mulford, as Ben, making a sudden break, 
 went to the table and took a drink of water. " And all 
 to punish New London for her patriotism." 
 
 "Eh, but Washington got even with em when he 
 bagged Cornwallis an his troops," said Silas. 
 
 "I don know," said Ben, dropping down again on 
 the settle. " Twould take a good deal to get even with 
 em. A cartel arrived at New London a few days ago, 
 
 / & * 
 
 bringing a hundred and thirty of our soldiers from the 
 prison-ships. Such a starved and sickly crew you never 
 laid eyes on. Good many of the poor fellows died on 
 the way, and most of those that lived to be landed at the 
 wharf looked as if they had just crawled out of their 
 graves. Oh, you can t begin to imagine it ! " And Ben 
 drew a long breath, and set his lips together. 
 
 "As soon as Mrs. Angel heard of it," he continued, 
 "she went right to those that had em in charge, and 
 begged them to let her take as many as her house would 
 hold of those that were most in need of care ; and they 
 were glad enough to let her do it. They sent her two or 
 three squads of em, and she s had a regular hospital 
 there ever since. If they were her own sons and 
 brothers she couldn t do more for them. One of em s 
 Cap n David Hand, from the Harbor. He was nothing 
 but a bag o bones when he first came, but he begins to 
 look more like himself. He told me about Uncle Aa 
 ron s being knocked overboard, and he was pleased 
 enough when he found that he succeeded in getting 
 ashore."
 
 A BELATED FISHERMAN. 401 
 
 Margaret listened pale and speechless ; but as soon as 
 the callers, warned by the stroke of nine, said good 
 night, she turned to Ben with her question. 
 
 "Could Captain Hand tell you nothing about the 
 others? Did you ask him, Ben?" 
 
 " Of course I asked him, Meg ; but what s the use? 
 When you think of the thousands that have been pris 
 oned on board those ships, you can see how vain it is to 
 hope to get track of any one in particular. They are 
 huddled together like cattle in a pen, with no name or 
 mlmber to distinguish them ; and even of those that die 
 no record is kept. Now and then one is fortunate enough, 
 like Uncle Aaron, to make his escape. There was one 
 of em named Tom Painter, from Connecticut, who man 
 aged to do it, but it was only by the skin of his teeth, and 
 he nearly starved before he got anywhere ; and another 
 by the name of Andros succeeded in getting ashore, and 
 made his way down to Sag Harbor on foot; but not 
 many of em get away except by dying. They say that 
 on one of the hospital ships there was a young fellow 
 named Philip Freneau, who was always writing rhymes 
 about the cruel treatment of our men ; and one of em 
 runs, 
 
 " Each day at least six carcasses we bore, 
 
 And scratched them graves along the sandy shore, 
 
 and from all accounts there s more truth than poetry in 
 it. Yet they could have had their freedom at any time 
 by enlisting in the British service. Cap n Hand says 
 that recruiting-officers went on board every day, and 
 tried their best to make turncoats of them, telling them
 
 402 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 that their own government cared nothing for them, and 
 that if they d fight for England, they d be well rewarded. 
 It must have been an awful temptation. I declare, Meg, 
 I don t see how they stood it, sick and half-starved as 
 they were. Sometimes when I get to thinking about it, 
 it throws me into a cold sweat for fear if I d been in 
 their place I shouldn t have held out." 
 
 "Ben! and you a Thurston ! " cried Margaret, with 
 her hand on his shoulder and her eyes flashing. 
 
 "Well, I don know, Meg. It s mighty hard telling. 
 Cap n Hand says that it isn t so much England s fault 
 that the prisoners are so brutally abused as that of the 
 greedy wretches who have charge of em. But that 
 only goes to prove that a government ought always to 
 know the character of the men that are employed to do 
 its work, especially when they are to have unlimited 
 control of those who are powerless to help themselves. 
 If we d had enough of their men of equal rank, they d 
 have been exchanged long before this ; but usually the 
 British seamen taken by our privateers were discharged 
 as soon as the vessel came into port, neither the State 
 nor the owners of the vessels feeling able to be at the 
 expense of keeping em ; and so our men have to bide 
 their time. But now that Cornwallis has surrendered, it 
 won t be a great while before they ll all be freed." 
 
 "And meanwhile we must bide our time," said the 
 girl, pressing her hands together. Her eyes were full 
 of tears. " I m glad you brought the fish," she added, 
 mustering a smile to keep the tears from falling. " And 
 how about Debby s?"
 
 4 BELATED FISHERMAN. 403 
 
 " Oh ! I stopped there on my way up, and left her a 
 mess. And Meg," he said, turning his face away as 
 he took up the candle that she had lighted for him, 
 " you needn t worry about Debby. She isn t the sort o 
 girl to break her heart for a Tory." And then he said 
 good-night. But when he had heard Margaret go to 
 her room, he slipped down-stairs, and tapped softly at 
 his grandfather s door. 
 
 " I didn t know but maybe it would be better not to 
 tell Meg just yet," he said, standing before the fire with 
 his arms crossed behind him, " but Cap n Hand says 
 that Lod Brewster was brought on board the Jersey not 
 long after Uncle Aaron got away, but was taken with a 
 fever, and had to be -moved to one of the hospital ships 
 the Hunter, I think was the name of it and that in 
 all probability he didn t get well." 
 
 " Thou did st wisely not to speak of it, Benjamin. It 
 will be time enough for her to know it when the probabil 
 ity has become a certainty. It is good to have thee home 
 again, lad. Thou art growing more like thy father." 
 And the old man, who had risen from his chair, leaned 
 forward for a closer look as Ben came in range of the 
 candle. Then, moved by the remembrance of his son, 
 he opened his arms, and drawing the young fellow 
 toward him, kissed him so tenderly that Ben felt a lump 
 rising in his throat. 
 
 O 
 
 "There was another thing I didn t like to speak of, 
 grandpa," the young man went on. " Uncle John Thur- 
 ston I told you he was with the militia the day New 
 London was burned well, he was pretty badly hurt.
 
 404 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Mrs. Angel has him at her house, and at first we thought 
 he was going to pull through ; but for the last fortnight 
 he has seemed to be losing strength, and he keeps ask 
 ing for you and Meg. That s why I came home. I ve 
 been watching my chance for more than a week. And 
 Cap n Ephraim says that if you want to go across, you ll 
 find him anchored off Nor west to-morrow night, long 
 about dusk." 
 
 "Benjamin, Benjamin, thou hast indeed brought evil 
 tidings ! " moaned the old man. He looked so white and 
 helpless that Ben put his arm around him, and seated 
 him in his chair. 
 
 " I must go at once," he said, shaken out of his usual 
 calm. "But Margaret would it- be safe for her, Ben 
 jamin? " 
 
 "Oh! I am sure there would be no danger, not as 
 things are now. The British are keeping pretty quiet 
 since the surrender, and their vessels are few and far 
 between on the Sound." 
 
 But the old man was far from satisfied. 
 
 "I would I could slip off without her knowing it," he 
 said. 
 
 " Oh, come now, grandpa ! " cried Ben. " Twas bad 
 enough for me to run away, but you ! Why, twould 
 break Meg s heart." 
 
 The old man made no answer. He was sitting with 
 his gray head bowed on his clasped hands ; and Ben, 
 divining that he was seeking counsel of the Indwelling 
 Light, stole away without disturbing him.
 
 ANOTHER CARTEL. 405 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 ANOTHER CARTEL. 
 
 " /~\H, indeed I must go, grandpa!" Margaret ex- 
 .Vy claimed the next morning, on hearing of her 
 uncle s illness. "Do you think I would let you go 
 alone ? " 
 
 " Nay, then, Benjamin can go with me," said the old 
 man, still undecided. But when Prudence, detecting 
 his hesitation, urged that it would be wiser to take with 
 him some one who had had experience in the sick-room, 
 he no longer wavered. 
 
 " Her uncle has a nurse already," he said. "It is 
 for the presence of those he loves that he is pining." 
 And charging Margaret to be ready in good season, he 
 went back to his room. 
 
 It was late in the afternoon when they boarded Cap 
 tain Fordham s sloop. 
 
 "You see, I ve kept my promise, Miss Peggy," said 
 the jolly skipper, as he hoisted sail. " But, Lord help 
 us ! If we d known that Sunday morning that the war 
 was going to last all these years well, it s a blessed 
 thing that we don t know what s before us. What time 
 will we get there? That s more n I can tell. I thought 
 we were going to have a good stiff breeze, but it seems
 
 406 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 to be dying down." And with that he shook out a reef, 
 and seated himself at the tiller. 
 
 "I ran across your neighbor, Squire Wickham, the 
 other day," he went on. " He s been running a sloop 
 out o Stonington ever since the exodus, and making no 
 end of trouble for the enemy. And there s Cap n Wil 
 liam Havens, he s been running privateers bout ever 
 since the war begun ; and one of em, called the Retali 
 ation, has lately been moored in the Thames off New 
 Lon on for a prison for some of the redcoat sailors 
 they ve been capturing. Tell you, the East Enders have 
 been doing more for the cause than folks think for ; and 
 what they ve suffered none but the Lord himself knows." 
 
 "Ay, they have suffered indeed," responded the old 
 Quaker. But neither he nor Margaret felt disposed to 
 talk. 
 
 The sun went down in a soft pink haze ; there was 
 scarcely a ripple on the water, and the vessel moved 
 sluggishly. 
 
 " We ll have the tide with us soon," said the captain. 
 
 And now there was a stir in the ri<r[nner like the sound 
 
 o o o 
 
 of spring in the tree-tops, the sagging canvas grew 
 taut, and the little pennon on the topmast stood out as 
 straight as a weathercock before the rising wind. 
 
 "Ah, here she comes!" cried Captain Ephraim. 
 "Now, then, my hearties!" And the sloop skimmed 
 the water like a petrel. 
 
 But soon, abruptly, the captain came forward, and ad 
 vised them to go below. It was a mild night for Novem 
 ber, he said, but too cool for folks that weren t used to
 
 ANOTHER CARTEL. 407 
 
 it to be sitting on deck. But they were scarcely in the 
 cabin when the sounds overhead indicated that something 
 more than usual was going on. The men were scurry 
 ing back and forth, and the captain could be heard 
 shouting his orders. 
 
 Margaret ran up the steps, and tried to peer out, but 
 was none the wiser. 
 
 " They are jibing," said her grandfather. Then sud 
 denly the vessel gave a lurch, and came apparently to a 
 full stop. 
 
 But presently they were moving again. 
 
 "Don t be scart, friends; it s all right," called the 
 skipper. "We thought at first it was one of the ene 
 my s gunboats bearing down on us, but it proved to be 
 Cap n John Foster on his way to the Harbor. We lay 
 to only long enough to ask whether there was anything 
 new concerning the treaty that s the one question that 
 everybody s asking now, but it s precious little satisfac 
 tion that one gets. He says, though, that another cartel 
 is on its way to New London with a hundred or more 
 of our poor fellows from the prison-ships on board." 
 
 At that Margaret started up the companion-way. 
 
 " Oh, I hope we shall be there in time to see them ! " 
 she cried. 
 
 " Well, I warn you, it ll be a sorry sight," said the cap 
 tain. " But we sha n t be long getting in now, with this 
 wind, and the tide turning." And before midnight they 
 were landed amid the charred ruins of New London. 
 
 Mrs. Angel, who had sent a conveyance to the land 
 ing, was on the watch for them.
 
 408 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "You have come none too soon," she said. " He is 
 rapidly failing." 
 
 But the sufferer knew them, and their coming so re 
 vived him that at first they cheated themselves with the 
 belief that he was going to rally. 
 
 " Ah, it is good to have you here ! " he murmured, 
 regarding them with beaming eyes. "I had hoped to 
 live to see peace established. Thank God it is not far 
 off ! The colonies have fought a good fight. They 
 have kept the faith." Then his mind wandered, and he 
 talked incoherently of the burning of the town, and of the 
 brutal butchery of the garrison at Fort Griswold. 
 
 And presently the brave old soldier had gained the 
 Port of Peace. 
 
 Very soon after the funeral Margaret discovered that 
 her grandfather was beginning to pine for home. He 
 had loved the pleasant old town, and the scenes of ruin 
 and desolation that met him at every turn brought a 
 heartache that was almost harder to bear than his per 
 sonal sorrow. 
 
 "It is like a nightmare, little one," he said, with a 
 shudder, "this ghastly record of flame and carnage. 
 Devastated as the East End is, the war has left there no 
 such scars as these." 
 
 But knowing how eagerly she was watching for the 
 cartel that was rumored to be on its way, though fearful 
 that it might bring her only fresh disappointment, he 
 succeeded in convincing her that, in spite of his home 
 sickness, he preferred to wait. 
 
 But while they delayed, thinking that the ship might
 
 ANOTHER CARTEL. 409 
 
 arrive at any moment, the rumor was flatly contradicted 
 no more cartels were to be sent until peace was de 
 clared ; and though Mrs. Angel urged them to stay, 
 they made preparations to return at once. But it was 
 several days before they could hear of a vessel that was 
 going across the Sound ; and when at last they succeeded 
 in securing a passage, they had to say good-by to their 
 hostess at daylight, fearing that they might be left, there 
 being no time fixed for sailing. 
 
 - But hour after hour, owing to the absence of some of 
 the crew, the sloop swung idly at her moorings. And 
 when finally the loiterers made their appearance, the 
 skipper himself was missing. 
 
 So it was nearly night before they were ready to 
 weigh anchor, and at the last moment a new delay oc 
 curred ; for sailing up the river, grim and spectral in 
 the gray November gloaming, came a black-hulled ship, 
 and instantly the cry went from mouth to mouth, "The 
 cartel ! The cartel ! Another cartel ! " 
 
 Margaret sprung to the taffrail, and leaning forward, 
 strained her eyes for a better view of the incoming vessel. 
 
 " Oh, if we had only waited!" she cried, turning to 
 her grandfather. 
 
 They had not yet pulled in the plank. 
 
 "Come," he said, taking her hand. And in a trice 
 they were on their way back to Mrs. Angel s. 
 
 " We may at least be able to get tidings from some of 
 them," she said, as she told Mrs. Angel of the arrival 
 of the cartel. 
 
 " Oh, I hope so ; " said her cousin, who, though she had
 
 41 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 never seen Lodowick, knew very well that his name was 
 uppermost in her thoughts. " But they ll not be likely 
 to land any of them before morning ; and meanwhile, 
 my dear," she added, noticing the heaviness of the brown 
 eyes, "you must try to get a good night s rest." 
 
 But Margaret, thinking of those who, scarcely a mile 
 away, were watching so wearily for the morning, though 
 she went to her room, found it impossible to sleep. Un 
 til past midnight she counted every stroke of the clock 
 in the room below; and though by then her thoughts 
 began to grow confused, it was two hours later before 
 she fairly lost consciousness. 
 
 The sun was shining when she awoke, and in an in 
 stant she was on her feet. 
 
 As she was about to go down, Mrs. Angel met her. 
 
 "Come quick, child," she cried. "They have sent 
 me eight. O Margaret, such wrecks of men ! And 
 one of them don t be too hopeful, dear ; he is lying in 
 a kind of stupor had this bound around his head." 
 She held out a linen handkerchief ; and Margaret, seiz 
 ing it, while her heart stood still, read in one corner the 
 name L. V. Brewster, and recognized the lettering as 
 some of her own handiwork. 
 
 " He has a knapsack marked with the same initials," 
 added Mrs. Angel. 
 
 How she managed to follow her cousin down the 
 stairs and reach the room where the sick man lay she 
 could never tell, for she was not conscious of using her 
 feet. 
 
 The soldier had turned his face to the wall.
 
 ANOTHER CARTEL. 41 I 
 
 " Be careful not to startle him," cautioned Mrs. Angel ; 
 and Margaret, stealing noiselessly to the bedside, leaned 
 over him without speaking, her lips quivering, and her 
 sweet eyes wide with eagerness. 
 
 "At last, at last, beloved!" her heart was crying. 
 But she drew back with a shudder. 
 
 "No, no!" she gasped, throwing out her hands. 
 Then suddenly she stooped forward again, and the cry 
 that escaped her trembling lips had a ring that was al- 
 niost joyous. Her grandfather, opening the door at the 
 moment, started toward her with an expectant face. 
 
 " Oh, make haste, grandpa, make haste," she cried. 
 
 The old man hurried to the bedside. 
 
 " What ! " he asked huskily. " Is it" 
 
 " Sh sh ! " she whispered, pointing to the wasted 
 face smitten already with the pallor of death; "it is 
 poor Will Braydon ! " 
 
 For several seconds no one spoke, the discovery was 
 so unlocked for. 
 
 " Oh, it must have been false ! " murmured Margaret 
 at last, " the rumor that he had gone over to the enemy ! 
 And surely he has been with Loclowick. How else 
 could he have come by the handkerchief? Oh, if he 
 could but speak to us ! " 
 
 Then, of a sudden, his knapsack caught her eye. It 
 bore Lodowick s initials, and she did not hesitate to open 
 it. A bundle of worn and faded army clothes was all 
 that it held apparently ; but hidden beneath the bundle 
 was a little Bible that Frances Brewster had given Lodo- 
 wick the day he went away, and stowed beside it the
 
 412 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 tears surged up when she saw it was the old cocoanut 
 drinking-cup. 
 
 She bent again over Braydon, and frantically called 
 him by name. But there was no answer. 
 
 " He is not going to last long," said Mrs. Angel, lay 
 ing her hand on his forehead. " lie will probably go 
 with the turning of the tide." 
 
 The surgeon in attendance said the same. But he 
 added that he might possibly come to himself before go 
 ing, and Margaret sat all day watching the sunken face. 
 Not for an instant could she be induced to leave him. 
 Who knew at what moment his lips might be unsealed ? 
 
 But when at nightfall the tide began silently slipping 
 seaward, the soul as silently slipped away, leaving the 
 mystery unsolved.
 
 A HEROIC SACRIFICE. 413 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 A HEROIC SACRIFICE. 
 
 , why? why?" moaned the girl, looking down 
 at the still white face with the feeling that death 
 had defrauded her. Why could he not have been per 
 mitted to open his lips, and tell her what she so longed 
 to know? 
 
 Oh, the weary "whys" that are forever going up 
 from tortured hearts! But God knows; and some 
 where, some time, he will give each heart its answer. 
 
 The only thing to comfort her was the thought of be 
 ing able to carry to Debby the assurance that her lover 
 had not died a traitor. 
 
 " Oh, to think, France, how we misjudged him ! " 
 Deborah cried remorsefully, when Margaret on her re 
 turn related the circumstances. " We might at least 
 have waited till we knew whether or not he could vindi 
 cate himself." And in her contrition she did penance 
 by treating Ben with a coldness that chilled his honest 
 young heart to the core. 
 
 " Be patient," counselled Margaret, when he came to 
 her for comfort; " it will all come right in time." But 
 it was many a day before Debby would let herself be 
 friendly again.
 
 414 A ^ ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 As the winter wore on, there was so little seemingly to 
 encourage the expectations that had been raised by the 
 surrender of Cornwallis that many in their comfortless 
 homes, with a scantness of supplies that threatened star 
 vation, began to give way to a new despair. 
 
 "We must remember, though, that it often takes 
 three months for word to get to England, and as much 
 longer for an answer to come back," Ezekiel Mulford re 
 marked to some of the neighbors gathered at Huntting s 
 Inn. 
 
 "Yes, yes, it s something that can t be settled in a 
 day," said Deacon Hedges, " and with Mr. Jay and Dr. 
 Franklin in Europe engineering the negotiations, our in 
 terests are not likely to suffer ; besides, England, they 
 say, is as anxious as \ve are to have a treaty consum 
 mated." 
 
 "Oh! it s bound to come," answered Mulford, pick 
 ing up the tongs, and putting together a log that had 
 burned in two. " Rut the people won t be satisfied with 
 any overtures that are not based on an acknowledgment 
 of our independence. England and the colonies have 
 burned asunder, and there s no more use in trying to 
 patch up a peace that will make the two countries a unit 
 again than there would be in trying to make a solid log 
 of those two fiery brands. They would only help to 
 consume each other." 
 
 "That s so," responded Nathaniel Huntting, lay 
 ing a fresh log on the fire. " It s a separation that 
 won t admit of a reunion of any sort. But there are 
 a good many points to be considered there s our trade
 
 A HEROIC SACRIFICE. 415 
 
 with the West Indies, for instance, they d be mighty 
 glad to cheat us out of that and our commissioners 
 will have to move warily. As Poor Richard says, A 
 small leak will sink a great ship, and the least flaw in 
 the construction of the treaty might eventually prove our 
 ruin. We ve won the battle, and can afford to wait." 
 
 But it was weary waiting. On both sides of the At 
 lantic the mightiest minds were bending all their ener 
 gies to the adjustment of the final treaty ; but the sea 
 was wide in the days \vhen there were only the wind- 
 bailed ships to carry the world s messages back and 
 forth. 
 
 An entire year went by, a year in which the people 
 learned as never before the bitterness of hope deferred, 
 and winter shut down again on the desolate land with 
 out bringing any decisive news concerning the pending 
 treaty. 
 
 But soon or late all waiting has an end ; and when one 
 April day the tidings came that a cessation of hostilities 
 had been proclaimed, a general treaty of peace having 
 been signed in Paris, the people needed none to remind 
 them to " render thanks to Almighty God for overruling 
 the wrath of men for his own glory, and causing the 
 rage of war to cease among the nations." 
 
 But the end was not yet. 
 
 "It s all very good as far as it goes," said Captain 
 Mulford ; "but we can t feel that there s any certainty 
 of its being permanent until we know that the treaty 
 has been finally confirmed ; and Congress seems to be 
 of the same opinion ; for in spite of the fact that hostili-
 
 41 6 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 ties have practically ceased, it has decided that the ser 
 vices of the men engaged in the war will not expire 
 until the articles of peace have been ratified, and there s 
 no telling how much longer that s going to take." 
 
 Furloughs, however, were freely given ; and from 
 time to time one and another of the East End soldiers, 
 taking advantage of this privilege, came " marching 
 home," bringing their arms with them. 
 
 " Seth Howell got back to Bridgehampton last week," 
 said Ben one morning to Margaret. " I saw him just 
 now at the Osborns . He was showing them his Badge 
 of Merit for six years faithful service, and his discharge 
 is signed by General George Washington himself. 1 Ah, 
 but wouldn t I be proud of a paper like that? And I 
 might have had one, too, if they d only let me enlist. 
 Tell you what, if ever there s another war" 
 
 " O Ben, don t, don t ! " protested Margaret. " One 
 can fight for his country in peace as well as in war, and 
 win honor without bloodshed." 
 
 But Ben was convinced that in having been debarred 
 from being a soldier he had missed the opportunity of a 
 lifetime ; and the accounts given by the returning vete 
 rans did not tend to lessen this conviction. 
 
 But only a small proportion of those who seven years 
 before had gone forth to fi^ht for freedom had lived to 
 
 & O 
 
 hail the peace for the winning of which they had so 
 freely lavished their hearts blood. 
 
 And it was not among the soldiers only that death had 
 been thinning the ranks. Of those who had so heroi- 
 
 l This paper is still in the possession of the descendants of Seth Howell.
 
 A HEROIC SACRIFICE. 417 
 
 cally stayed to guard their homes, many a one enfeebled 
 physically by the ceaseless suspense, the lack of nourish 
 ing food, and the unaccustomed toil, had at last, in spite 
 of the " high courage " that had upheld their souls, been 
 forced to yield the struggle. 
 
 And now from across the Sound those who had been 
 so cruelly exiled were flocking back, and there was 
 scarcely a family among them that had not left one or 
 more of its members lying with folded hands in some old 
 New England churchyard. 
 
 But whatever sorrows of their own these brave hearts 
 carried, the exiles returning to their desolate and im 
 poverished farms ; the soldiers forging home in their 
 ragged regimentals, footsore and penniless ; the patriots 
 who, remaining, had suffered a daily martyrdom from 
 the presence of the foe and the persecutions of their Tory 
 friends, all were alike exultant. Peace had come, and 
 they were no longer under the yoke. 
 
 One of the veterans that came back that summer was 
 Aaron Neale. 
 
 He was worn and haggard, and Margaret refrained 
 from troubling him with questions. But he -was quick to 
 understand the mute appeal in the sorrowful young eyes. 
 
 "It is the will of the Lord, little one," he said, draw 
 ing her to him. And she knew that he had nothing to 
 tell her. 
 
 A day or two later she was hastily summoned to the 
 Brewsters with the word that Miss Frances was dying. 
 
 Dr. Sage was standing by the bed when she entered 
 the room, and his face told her that there was no hope.
 
 41 8 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 She had come in so quietly that Deborah, whose head 
 
 was buried in her sister s pillow, did not hear her ; but 
 
 the invalid looked up eagerly. 
 
 " Lodowick," she whispered. " Has he come?" 
 But before any one could frame an answer, she no 
 
 longer needed to be told, for the saintly spirit had passed 
 
 beyond earth s limitations.
 
 PEACE. 419 
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 PEACE. 
 
 T^ARLY in the autumn Lieutenant Burton appeared 
 l^/ again. He had sold his commission to a wealthy 
 Tory who was anxious to leave the country without be 
 ing considered a refugee, and thenceforth the young 
 Englishman declared himself an American. But he was 
 as English as ever in his fondness for walking, and was 
 always happy when he could prevail on any of his friends 
 to join him in his rambles. 
 
 One afternoon Ben found him standing at the gate 
 with Deborah, who, Ben thought at the moment, was 
 looking unpardonably pretty. They were waiting for 
 Margaret ; and Ben, stalking past them with the stiffest 
 of bows, waylaid her in the entry. 
 
 "So that s what he turned American for?" he 
 growled. 
 
 " For Debby? Ben ! " And Meg laughed merrily, in 
 spite of her heavy heart. "It was Betty turned him, 
 you foolish boy. We are going there now." 
 
 " Oho ! that s the way the wind sets, is it? Well, he s 
 a fine fellow. I always liked him." And soon the four 
 were sauntering abreast along the wide, still street. But 
 Ben had taken good care to get beside Debby.
 
 420 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 Half way to the Osgoods they met Betty herself, 
 smiling and rosy. Whereupon the lieutenant, with no 
 mind to be cheated out of his walk, proposed their going 
 on, the country, he urged, was so gorgeous in its autumn 
 coloring. But Margaret went with them only as far as 
 her uncle s. 
 
 "They are lovers, and are sufficient for themselves," 
 she said, looking after them with sad eyes. 
 
 On going in she found that her Aunt Ruth had gone 
 to one of the neighbors . She was disappointed, for she 
 was feeling unutterably lonely and out of tune. 
 
 " We had hoped to see Richard and Joel home before 
 this," said Grandma Osgood, with a patient little sigh. 
 And then, scanning the sorrowful young face with her 
 kind old eyes, she asked gently, "No news?" 
 
 Margaret shook her head, and went home with her 
 heart clamoring. Oh, to know ! to know ! Was the long 
 silence never to be broken? Was the haunting mystery 
 to go on forever? 
 
 When she reached the house she saw Rick letting 
 down the barnyard bars with Lord Lion in tow ; and in 
 the desperate hope of shaking off her despondency she 
 determined to have a gallop. 
 
 "Run get the saddle, Rick," she said, putting her 
 arm over Lord Lion s neck. Rick rushed back grin 
 ning with delight; and while she waited, through the 
 hazy autumn stillness came the sound of hoofs. Lion 
 pricked up his sensitive ears. 
 
 "Hark, Lion!" she whispered, for the rider was 
 calling eagerly to some one in passing ; but she could
 
 PEACE. 42 1 
 
 make nothing out of the wild jumble of words. As he 
 came nearer she saw that it was Burt Osgood, and then 
 she remembered Betty s telling her that he had gone to 
 Southampton. He was waving furiously a tattered flag, 
 which, faded as it was, still showed the stars and stripes ; 
 and now she began to comprehend what he was shout 
 ing* - 
 
 " The treaty has been ratified ! " 
 
 He was going by without stopping; but she called to 
 him breathlessly, 
 
 "Is it true, Burt?" 
 
 "Why, to be sure, Meg! You don t suppose I d be 
 wasting my wind shouting it if it wasn t? " he answered, 
 pulling up at the bars. "The treaty has been ratified, 
 and the whole army is to be disbanded." 
 
 J 
 
 " How soon, Burt, how soon?" 
 
 But Burt had spurred on. 
 
 "Wot dat mean, my Miss Marge?" asked Rick, 
 as Lord Lion lowered his head for the bridle. " Dey s 
 watified de tweaty?" 
 
 "It means peace, Rick. It means that the war is 
 truly ended at last, thank God ! Now,, then, Lion ! " 
 And springing into the saddle, she made haste to over 
 take the lovers to tell them the good news. 
 
 The next day Richard Osgood and his brother ar 
 rived. They reported that all the soldiers were to be 
 discharged on the third of November, and that the Brit 
 ish were making speedy preparations for the evacuation 
 of New York. 
 
 Not long after this a letter came from Mrs. Angel.
 
 422 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 "A neighbor who has recently returned," she wrote, 
 " and who was for a time a prisoner on the Hunter, tells 
 me that there was a man on board named Brewster, and 
 that he had expected to come home on the cartel that ar 
 rived while you were here, but he voluntarily gave up 
 his place to young Braydon, the ship s surgeon having 
 said that it was the poor fellow s only chance of life, 
 and in the confusion, Lodowick s knapsack was sent off 
 with him." 
 
 Margaret lifted a white face from the letter. 
 
 " O my God ! that a life like Lodowick s should have 
 been sacrificed for that shallow, vacillating boy ! " she 
 moaned. And what had it availed? But in the midst 
 of her bitterness the thought of the heroism of the sacri 
 fice flooded her soul with a proud joy. 
 
 She was re-reading the letter when Ben came in ; but 
 he was so intent on what he had to tell that he took no 
 notice at first of what she was doing. 
 
 "Meg," he cried, " Seth Howell knows all about Will 
 Braydon ; and he says the report that he turn d Tory 
 was no yarn. He d been in the British army more than 
 two years when our men captured him. Seth says he 
 was mightily ashamed of himself, and I should think he 
 would have been. Our folks discharged him on parole, 
 and after a while he managed to get a place on board a 
 privateer. The vessel was taken by the enemy, and he 
 with the rest of the crew was sent to one of the prison- 
 ships. So there s the long and short of it, and all Deb- 
 by s pity wasted ! " 
 
 Margaret held out to him Mrs. Angel s letter.
 
 PEACE. 423 
 
 " Here s the rest of the story, Ben," she said quietly. 
 
 The young fellow drew a long breath when he fin 
 ished the reading. 
 
 " Lodowick Brewster for Will Braydon ! But twas 
 just like Lod. And just like Will Braydon to let him 
 do it. I wonder what Miss Debby ll say when she finds 
 that he was a Tory after all ? But there s never any 
 telling what a girl ll say or do." 
 
 "Poor Debby ! " sighed Margaret, unable to keep 
 from smiling at this spurt of cynicism. "It seems 
 almost cruel to undeceive her." 
 
 "Oh! don t worry," cried Ben. "If she can per 
 suade herself that that young popinjay was a hero and 
 a martyr, let her take what comfort she can out of it. 
 I m not going to enlighten her. Besides," he added, 
 softening at the remembrance that he was speaking of 
 the dead, "he gave his life for his country in the end 
 after a fashion." 
 
 Margaret pressed her lips together and was silent. 
 She could be pitiful to Deborah, but she still found it 
 hard to think kindly of the poor soul for whom her hero 
 had been so uselessly sacrificed. 
 
 Yet and her heart gave a great leap who knew 
 but he might still be living? And on the instant she 
 resolved to make another search for him. But before 
 she had time to shape her plan, Ben came to her with 
 the startling announcement that Debby and he were to 
 be married the next week. 
 
 "And what I want, if you don t mind," he added, 
 "is to have the wedding here."
 
 424 4N ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 " Of course it must be here," she said. And though 
 she would gladly have urged a month s delay, she felt 
 that it would be a pity to dampen his joy, he was so 
 radiantly happy. 
 
 And scarcely had Ben left her, when Betty came in 
 and shyly confided to her that she and the lieutenant had 
 decided to be married in the course of a fortnight. 
 
 "Why not have both weddings at the same time ?" 
 said Margaret quickly. 
 
 And as not only Betty and the lieutenant, but Mis 
 tress Prudence also, readily fell in with this propo 
 sition, the double wedding took place the following 
 Tuesday. 
 
 Margaret, though too unselfish to begrudge them their 
 happiness, looked on with sad eyes ; and when it came 
 to wishing them joy, she very nearly broke down. But 
 her grandfather drew her hand to his arm, and hastened 
 to offer congratulations. 
 
 "A little time ago, Elizabeth," he said, dryly, as he 
 saluted the bride, " thou would st have been setting the 
 country a dangerous example in making terms with the 
 enemy without first claiming thy independence." 
 
 "Oh! it shall be granted her all the same, Friend 
 Thurston," cried the groom gallantly. " It is a part of 
 our treaty. Every Englishman, henceforth, that mar 
 ries an American is bound to acknowledge her right to 
 the Declaration. 
 
 Priest Buell, who was holding the bride s hand, 
 bowed smilingly to the lieutenant. 
 
 "And may this happy union between those who so
 
 PEACE. 425 
 
 lately called themselves enemies," he said, laying Bet 
 ty s hand in that of her husband, " prove a prophecy of 
 that happy day when the treaty of peace between the 
 two nations shall be sealed with love." 
 
 He had barely finished this little speech when Ben 
 jamin Huntting, from Southampton, walked in with a 
 letter in his hand. Dr. Henry White, lately released 
 from one of the British prison-ships, he said, had been 
 commissioned to deliver this letter to Friend Thurston. 
 They ought to have had it several days sooner, he 
 added ; but Henry, though he had waited for weeks to 
 recruit, was still so feeble that it had taken him a fort 
 night to make the journey down the Island. 
 
 "Ah, it s for thee, Margaret," said the old Quaker, 
 on removing the foolscap wrapper. 
 
 Margaret, quivering with new-born hope, caught it 
 from him, and turned to the nearest light. 
 
 " Oh, read it, grandpa, read it ! " she cried presently, 
 her eyes shining like stars. 
 
 "Ah, friends! this is good news," said the old man, 
 hastily scanning the letter. "It is from Lodowick 
 Bre\vster. He was released from one of the prison-ships 
 some time ago, but in so helpless a condition that he was 
 taken to our friends the Remsens at the Wallabout with 
 but little expectation that he would ever reach home 
 alive. But he has finally begun to rally, and hopes soon 
 to be with us." 
 
 " If \ve had only known it a few hours sooner," la 
 mented Debby, in the midst of the rejoicing. 
 
 Then, of a sudden, Silas Post swung open the door,
 
 426 AN ISLAND HEROINE. 
 
 and on the threshold stood a tall, gaunt form, with a 
 scarred and pallid face. 
 
 " It s Lodowick himself!" cried Ben, awe-struck. 
 
 There was a quick stir among the wedding guests, 
 and a chorus of exclamations. But a girlish figure in a 
 gray gown of homespun wool was flying toward the 
 door, and Lodowick was not conscious of any other 
 presence. 
 
 " Sweetheart ! sweetheart ! " he whispered. 
 
 And while Deborah went flying after Margaret, Priest 
 Buell, calling a halt to the rest of the wondering com 
 pany, related briefly the story of that other wedding 
 seven years before. Whereupon Ben protested that he 
 had been grossly defrauded he had been counting 
 ever since he could remember on seeing Meg married. 
 
 "Well, well, Ben," said Priest Buell, with his joyous 
 laugh, "march em up, and we ll ratify the treaty." 
 
 But when at last, taking advantage of a momentary 
 lull, Ben succeeded in marshalling Margaret and her 
 hero to the front, the little minister, reading in Lodo- 
 wick s face the record of those terrible years, and feeling 
 that it was scarcely less than a miracle that he had come 
 forth alive, forgot to repeat the marriage formula, and 
 folding the soldier s hand and Margaret s in his own, 
 with his kind eyes brimming with tears, he cried, 
 
 " Let us give thanks ! "
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 "AN ISLAND HEROINE" deals so largely with "real 
 IJL people " and actual occurrences that it is far more of a 
 history than a romance, the " story " being merely the thread 
 with which the author has endeavored to weave together in the 
 order of their happening the many historical facts gathered 
 from countless sources that serve to show the indomitable 
 courage and patience of the " East End " people of Long Island 
 during the War of the American Revolution. 
 
 The Hon. Henry P. Hedges, in an address on the 2ooth 
 anniversary of Easthampton, pays these brave souls this lofty 
 tribute : " Left to the tender mercies of the foe, plundered by 
 countryman and stranger of their property and ripened har 
 vest, robbed of the stores which they reaped and garnered, 
 slandered by suspicious brethren, taunted and scoffed at by 
 the mercenary victors, they never wavered. Their hearts were 
 in their country s cause ; and, in the memorable language of 
 their great compatriot, Sink or swim, live or die, survive or 
 perish, they were true to their country unterrified, unalter 
 able, devoted Americans." 
 
 The descendants of these Long Island patriots are scat 
 tered from Maine to California ; and the following Revolutionary 
 muster-rolls and lists of officers are appended for the benefit of 
 those who, either through the loss of family records, or lack of 
 access to the public archives, are unable to tell definitely to 
 what company or regiment their ancestors belonged. Many of 
 the names are from " The History of Southampton," by the 
 
 427
 
 428 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Hon. George R. Howell, an authority to whom the author is 
 indebted for invaluable assistance in the search for material 
 for this work ; but, unfortunately, the rosters of some of the 
 companies belonging to the Long Island regiments were never 
 published. 
 
 MUSTER-ROLL OF CAPT. EZEKIEL MULFORD s COMPANY OF EAST- 
 HAMPTON, JULY 26, 1776. 
 
 Ezckicl Mulford, Capt. 
 Daniel Sayre, 1st Lieut. 
 Nathaniel Hand, ad Lieut. 
 Matthew Mulford, Script., 
 Lemuel Pierson, Sergt., 
 Henry Dominy, Sergt., 
 
 9 
 32 
 29 
 
 Henry Shcrrill, Corpl., 22 
 
 Benjamin Crook, Corpl., 32 
 
 Liullam Parsons, Corpl., 29 
 
 Thomas Jones, drummer, 21 
 
 Zephaniah Bower, fifer, 17 
 
 Daniel Baker, 21 Jonathan Hedges, 27 
 
 Jeremiah Barnes, 20 Nathan Hedges, 17 
 
 Cornelius Bassett, 21 Zachariah Hicks, 26 
 
 Edward Bennett, 37 Daniel Hoppin, 17 
 
 Gamaliel Bennett, 25 Matthew Howell, 20 
 
 Benjamin Conklin, 18 Aaron Isaacs, Jun., 23 
 
 Samuel Conkling, 22 James Loper, 39 
 
 William Conkling, 18 Joel Miller, 17 
 
 Paul Daines, 34 Nathan Miller, 1 7 
 
 Samuel Davall, 21 Peleg Miller, 36 
 
 Jeremiah Dayton, 31 Henry Moore, 26 
 
 Daniel Edwards, 21 Jonathan Mulford, 20 
 
 Isaac Edwards, 17 Samuel Mulford, 19 
 
 Silas Edwards, 24 Abraham Osborn, 19 
 
 Wakeman Foster, 21 Joseph Osborn, 21 
 
 William Hallock, 26 Smith Stratton Osborn, 17 
 
 Joseph Hand, 20 John Pain, 39 
 
 Nathan Hand, 29 Samuel Parsons, 22 
 
 John Hawks, 19 Paul Payne, 25 
 
 Elihu Hedges, 17 Peter Payne, 28
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 429 
 
 Edmund Perry, 
 Job Pierson, 
 
 Joseph Skellinger, 
 Thomas Stanborough, 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 AGE. 
 
 
 30 
 
 Paul Stratton, 
 
 17 
 
 Joseph Talmage, 
 
 17 
 
 Zebulon Thompson, 
 
 21 
 
 
 20 
 42 
 
 The following names were on a muster-roll of the same com 
 pany, March 26, 1776, but not on the roll of July 26, 1776, and 
 may have joined other companies : 
 
 John Miller, 1st Lieut. 
 Abraham Loper, Sergt. 
 Elisha Jones, Sergt. 
 Jeremiah Conkling, Sergt. 
 
 John Askly. 
 Henry Baker. 
 Jonathan Barnes. 
 William Bassett. 
 David Bishop. 
 Abraham Coan. 
 Jacob Conkling. 
 Jacob Dayton. 
 Samuel Dayton. 
 Isaiah Dibble. 
 John Gan. 
 George Gladin. 
 Jonathan Tuthill. 
 
 Elisha Mulford, Sergt. 
 Isaac Skellinger, Corpl. 
 Jeremiah Jones, Corpl. 
 Henry Chatfield, drummer. 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Eleazer Hedges. 
 
 Christopher Hedges (or Heyes). 
 
 David Miller. 
 
 Ezekiel Miller. 
 
 Huntting Miller. 
 
 John Mulford. 
 
 Cornelius Osborn. 
 
 Isaac Pain. 
 
 Ichabod Raynor. 
 
 Daniel Sherrill. 
 
 Samuel Stratton. 
 
 Enos Talmae. 
 
 STAFF OF 2D REGIMENT OF SUFFOLK COUNTY. 
 
 Colonel, 
 
 David Mulford, 
 
 
 Lieut. Colonel, 
 
 Jonathan Hedges, 
 
 Bridgehampton. 
 
 Major, 
 
 Uriah Rogers, 
 
 Southampton. 
 
 Major, 
 
 George Herrick, 
 
 Southampton. 
 
 Adjutant, 
 
 Jno. Gelston. 
 
 
 Quarter Master, 
 
 Phineas Howell. 
 
 
 Drum Major, 
 
 Elias Matthews. 
 
 
 Sergt. Major, 
 
 Lemuel Pierson. 

 
 430 APPENDIX. 
 
 A REGIMENT OF MINUTE-MEN ENGAGED IN THE BATTLE OF 
 LONG ISLAND. 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 Colonel, Josiah Smith, Moriches. 
 
 Lieut. Colonel, Jno. Hulbcrt, Easthampton. 
 
 1st Major, Isaac Reeve, Southold. 
 
 2cl Major, Jonathan Baker, Easthampton. 
 
 Adjt., Ephraim Marvin. 
 
 Quarter Master, Ebenezer Dayton, Easthampton. 
 
 EASTHAMPTON COMPANY. 
 
 Commissioned Feb. 23, 1776. 
 Captain, Ezekiel Mulforcl. 
 
 ist Lieut., Jno. Miller. 
 
 2d Lieut., Nathl. Hand. 
 
 FIRST SOUTHAMPTON COMPANY. 
 
 Commissioned Feb. 23, 1776. 
 Captain, Zephaniah Rogers, 
 
 ist Lieut., Nathl. Howell, Jr. 
 
 2d Lieut., Matthew Sayre. 
 
 SECOND SOUTHAMPTON COMPANY. 
 
 Commissioned Feb. 23, 1776. 
 Captain, David Pierson. 
 
 ist Lieut., Jno. Foster, Jr. 
 
 2d Lieut., Abm. Rose. 
 
 Ensign, Edward Topping. 
 
 FIRST SOUTHOLD COMPANY. 
 Commissioned May 3, 1776. 
 
 Captain, Jno. Hnyley. 
 
 1st Lieut., Joshua Youngs. 
 
 2d Lieut., Jno. Tuthill. 
 
 Ensign, Jas. Reeves. 
 
 SECOND SOUTHOLD COMPANY. 
 
 Commissioned May 3, 1776. 
 Captain, Paul Reeves. 
 
 ist. Lieut., Jno. Corwin. 
 
 2d Lieut., David Ilorton. 
 
 Ensign, Nathl. Hudson.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 431 
 
 BROOKHAVEN, SMITHTOWN, MANOR OF ST. GEORGE, AND 
 MORICHES COMPANY. 
 
 Commissioned April 4, 1776. 
 Captain, Selah Strong. 
 
 1st Lieut., William Clark. 
 
 2cl Lieut., Caleb Brewster. 
 
 Ensign, Nathl. Brewster. 
 
 May 30, 1776 a return of this Regiment gives Isaac Overton, 
 ;d Major, vice Baker ; Captain Nathl. Platt rice Selah Strong. 
 
 Captain, 
 Capt. Lieut., 
 1st Lieut., 
 2cl Lieut., 
 Lieut., 
 
 ARTILLERY COMPANY. 
 William Rogers. 
 Jno. Franks. 
 Jeremiah Rogers. 
 Thomas Baker. 
 Jno. Tuthill. 
 
 Bridgehampton. 
 
 A RETURN OF THE EXTRAORDINARY MUSTERING OF MINUTE- 
 MEN OF SOUTHAMPTON, 
 
 Sworn to upon Oat/!, Aug. 10, 17/6. 
 
 Zephaniah Rogers, Capt. 
 Mathew Sayre, 2tl Lieut. 
 Zebulon Jessup, Sergt. 
 Timothy Halsey, Sergt. 
 Philip Halsey, Fifer. 
 Mathew Ilowell, Corpl. 
 George Ludlam, Corpl. 
 
 Nathaniel Ilowell, 1st Lieut. 
 David Ilaines Foster, Sergt. 
 John Pierson, Sergt. 
 Obadiah Jones, Jr., Drummer. 
 Joseph Goodale, Corpl. 
 Samuel Bishop, Corpl. 
 
 Zebulon Jennings. 
 
 Isaac Jessup. 
 
 David Rose. 
 
 Asa Foster. 
 
 William Hill. 
 
 Thomas Johnes. 
 
 Henry Ilaines. 
 
 Abraham Rogers. 
 
 Silvanus Jennings. 
 
 Abraham Sayre. 
 
 Benjamin Cooper. 
 
 John Pelletreau. 
 
 Silas Rugg. 
 
 Abraham Jagger. 
 
 Jehial Howell. 
 
 Charles Woolly. 
 
 Stephen Reeves, Jr. 
 
 James Stephens. 
 
 Stephen Ray nor. 
 
 Richard Fowler. 
 
 Jonathan Howell. 
 
 William Foster. 
 
 James Novies. 
 
 Stephen Rogers. 
 
 John Palbertson. 
 
 William Howell. 
 
 William Raynor. 
 
 Edmund Howell. 
 
 Job Rogers. 
 
 William Goldsmith
 
 432 APPENDIX. 
 
 RETURN OF THE NAMES OF THE PERSONS FOR OFFICERS OF THE 
 SECOND BATTALION IN SUFFOLK COUNTY, 
 
 Commissioned Sept. 13, 1775. 
 IST COMPANY, 
 
 Capt. David Howell ; 1st Lieut. Jere. Post; ad Lieut. Paul Jones; 
 
 Ensign Zephniah Rogers. 
 20 COMPANY, 
 
 Capt. John Dayton; ist Lieut. Isaac Mulford Huntting; 2d Lieut. 
 
 Jno. Miller, Jr. ; Ensign William Hedges. 
 30 COMPANY, 
 
 Capt. David Pierson; 1st Lieut. Daniel Hedges; ad Lieut. David 
 
 Sayre; Ensign Theophilus Pierson. 
 4x11 COMPANY, 
 
 Capt. David Fithan ; 1st Lieut. Samuel Conkling ; ad Lieut. Thomas 
 
 Baker ; Ensign Daniel Conkling. 
 STH COMPANY, 
 
 Capt. Stephen Howell; 1st Lieut. John White, Jr.; ad Lieut. Lemuel 
 
 Wick; Ensign Isaac Ilalsey. 
 6rn COMPANY, 
 
 Capt. William Rogers; 1st Lieut. Jesse Halsey; ad Lieut. Henry 
 
 Halsey ; Ensign Nathaniel Rogers. 
 7TH COMPANY, 
 
 Capt. Josiah Ilowell; 1st Lieut. Nathaniel Howell; ad Lieut. Matthew 
 
 Howell ; Ensign William Stephens. 
 STH COMPANY, 
 
 Capt. Samuel L Hommedieu; 1st Lieut. Silas Jessup; ad Lieut. 
 
 Edward Conkling; Ensign Daniel Fortlham. 
 9TH COMPANY, 
 
 Capt. John Sandford ; 1st Lieut. Edward Topping ; ad Lieut. Philip 
 Howell; Ensign John Ilildreth.
 
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