"I owe thee anything?" she asked amazed. "How can that be?"
"Think you that I have forgotten the time spent in your house, my little cousin? Think you that I, an officer in His Majesty"s service, do not resent that I was given in exchange for a dragoon?"
"If thee thinks that I owe thee anything, my cousin, I will be glad to pay it," said Peggy regarding him with wondering, innocent eyes. "I am sorry thee holds aught against me."
Colonel Owen had the grace to blush.
"Harriet hath no housewifely tastes," he said hastily, "and my son shares her extravagant habits. Between them and the necessity of maintaining a position befitting an officer, I am like to come to grief.
You are a good little thing, after all, Peggy. And now let me take you about and put you in charge."
And thus it came that Peggy found herself installed at the head of her cousin"s household. The position was no sinecure. She made mistakes, for never before had she been thrown so entirely upon her own resources, but she had been well trained, and the result was soon apparent in the lessened expenditures. The experience was of great benefit to her, and she grew womanly and self-reliant under the charge. Her cousin"s manner too underwent a most pleasing transformation. He was kindly, and but seldom made cutting and sarcastic speeches at her expense. Upon the other hand, she was subjected to a petty tyranny from Harriet quite at variance with her former deportment.
And the spring pa.s.sed into summer; summer waxed and waned, and in all that time there had come no word from her father or mother, nor had there been opportunity for her to send them any. That the war was going disastrously against the patriots in the South she could not but gather from the rejoicings of the British. Of the capture of Stony Point on the Hudson by the Americans she was kept in ignorance. The influx of a large body of troops and militia into the city, the surrounding of the island by forty men-of-war, told that Sir Henry Clinton feared attack. And so the summer pa.s.sed.
In December the troops from Rhode Island were hastily withdrawn, the city strongly fortified, and everything indicated a movement of some kind. Peggy tried to ascertain what it was, but for some time could not do so. The snow which had begun falling in November now increased in the frequency of the storms, scarcely a day pa.s.sed without its fall. The cold became severe, and ice formed in rivers and bay until at length both the Hudson and Sound rivers were frozen solidly. The bay also became as terra firma, and horses, wagons and artillery pa.s.sed over the ice to Staten Island.
"Is our stock of fire-wood getting low, Peggy?" inquired Colonel Owen one morning, laying down the "Rivington Gazette" which he was reading.
"The paper speaks of the growing scarcity of wood, and says that if the severe weather continues we will be obliged to cut down the trees in the city for fuel."
"I ordered some yesterday from the woodyards," Peggy told him. She was standing by one of the long windows overlooking the frozen Hudson. How near New Jersey seemed. Men and teams were at that moment pa.s.sing over the ice on their way to and from the city. How easy it looked to go across. She turned to him suddenly. "How much longer am I to stay, Cousin William?" she asked.
"Till the war closes," he said laughing. As a shadow pa.s.sed over her face he added: "And that won"t be much longer, my little cousin. There is a movement on foot that is going to bring it to a close before you realize what hath happened. We have at last got your Mr. Washington in a cul de sac from which he cannot escape."
"Where is General Washington, my cousin?" asked she quickly.
"On the heights of Morristown, in New Jersey. Nay," he laughed as a sudden eager light flashed into her eyes, "you cannot reach him, Peggy.
If you could get through the lines, which you cannot, for the guards have been increased to prevent surprise, you could not go through the forest. The snow lies four feet on the level. You could not get through the woods. But cheer up! I promise you a glimpse of your hero soon. The war is on its last legs."
Peggy gazed after him with troubled eyes as he left the room. What was the new movement on foot? Pondering the matter much she went about the duties of the day. About the middle of the forenoon an ox cart with the wood she had ordered drove into the stable yard. She uttered an exclamation of vexation as she saw the ragged heap which the driver was piling. Throwing a wrap about her she hurried into the yard where the team was.
"Friend," she called severely, for Peggy looked well to the ways of the household, "that is not the way to unload the wood. It must be corded so that it can be measured."
"Yes, mistress," answered the driver, touching his hat.
Peggy started. He had given the military salute instead of the usual curtsey of the countryman. She looked at him intently. There was something strangely familiar about him, she thought, but he was so bundled up that she could only see his eyes. Whistling cheerfully the driver began to cord the wood as she directed.
"Thou art not o"erstrong for the work," she commented as he struggled valiantly with a great stick. "I will send one of the stablemen to help thee."
"Wait, Peggy," he said in a low tone.
"John!" almost screamed the girl. "John Drayton!"
CHAPTER XXV-THE ALERT THAT FAILED
"What gain we by our toils if he escape Whom we came hither solely to subdue?"
-"Count Julian," Landor.
"Be careful," warned Drayton, letting the stick fall with a crash. "Can you come to Rachel Fenton"s house in little Queen Street this morning?
We can talk there."
"Yes, yes," cried Peggy eagerly. "I know where it is. I will go there from market. John, my mother--"
"Is well," he answered quickly. "Don"t ask anything more now, but go in.
"Tis cold out here."
"But thee?" she questioned loth to leave him.
"Oh, I"m used to it," he responded airily. "Just send along that stableman though, Peggy. These sticks are heavy. And say! Is"t permitted to feed drivers of carts? There are not many rations just now in Morristown, and I"d really like to eat once more."
"Thee shall have all thee wants," she a.s.sured him. "But oh, John! if they should find out who thee is! Thou art mad to venture into the city."
"If they will wait until I"ve eaten they may do their worst," he replied with a touch of his old jauntiness. "No; I don"t mean that, for I"ve come to take you back with me. That is, if you want to go?"
"I do, I do," she told him almost in tears.
"Then go right in," he commanded. "Won"t your cousins suspect something if they see you talking like this to a countryman?"
"They will think I am scolding thee," she said with a tremulous little laugh. "And truly thee needs it, John. I never saw a cord of wood piled so crookedly before in my life."
"They"ll be glad to get wood in any shape if this weather keeps on, I"m thinking," he made answer. "Now do go right in, Peggy. And don"t forget that stableman."
Peggy hastened within doors, sent the man to help with the wood, and then tried to regain her usual composure by preparing a meal for Drayton.
"The poor lad," was her mental comment a little later as she watched the young fellow stow away the food that was placed before him. "He eats as though he had had nothing all winter."
This was nearer truth than she dreamed. Had she but known the condition of the army at Morristown she would not have wondered at the boy"s voraciousness. She hovered about him, attending to his needs carefully, longing but not daring to ask the many questions that crowded to her lips. It would not do to risk conversation of any sort in the house.
There were too many coming and going. As it was the servants gazed at her in surprise, curious as to her interest in a teamster. The meal finished, Drayton rose with a word of thanks, and crossed to the fire which blazed upon the kitchen hearth.
Peggy felt a sudden apprehension as she heard Harriet"s step in the hall. What if she should enter the kitchen? Would Drayton be safe from the keen scrutiny of her sharp eyes? The lad himself seemed to feel no uneasiness, but hung over the roaring fire of hickory logs as though reluctant to leave its warmth. Making a pretense of replenishing the fire Peggy whispered:
"Go, go! Harriet is coming." Drayton roused himself with a start, drew his wrappings close about him, and, giving her a significant look, pa.s.sed through the outside door just as Harriet entered the room from the pa.s.sage.
"Who was that, Peggy?" she asked sharply.
"The man with the wood," answered Peggy busied about the fire. "I gave him something to eat."
"Mercy, Peggy! Is it necessary to feed such riffraff? They are all a pack of rebels. No wonder father complains of expense."
Peggy"s cheeks flamed with indignation. "Would thee send any one away in such weather without first giving him food?" she demanded. ""Twould be inhuman!"
"And I suppose thee wouldn"t treat a Britisher so," mimicked Harriet who was plainly in a bad humor. "Did father tell you that Sir Henry Clinton was to dine here to-day?"
"Yes," returned Peggy gravely. ""Tis fortunate that "tis market day, for there are some things needed. I shall have to use the sleigh. Thee won"t mind? I cannot get into the city otherwise."