"Oh, Little Peter, don"t _you_ know?" exclaimed the girl, looking up again as she spoke.
Peter made no reply. He did not know just what it was to which Sarah referred, and although he had his own suspicions, he did not feel that he could refer to them in the presence of the troubled girl.
"Have you seen Tom?" said Sarah suddenly.
"No. He"s in the army, I think, and I haven"t been near that."
"You wouldn"t have to go very far. They say they"re both near here, and that there either has been a battle or there will be one soon. I wish Tom was here. If you see him, won"t you tell him to come back just as soon as he can?"
"Yes, if I see him. I don"t know that I shall very soon, though. I don"t know what to do, Sarah. I came to see about the children."
"They"re all right. They seem to be now, don"t they?" she said, as a burst of laughter came from the noisy group. "Perhaps you don"t want to leave them here now, though," she added, her eyes filling with tears once more as she spoke. "I wish you would leave them. It isn"t much we can do for you, but we want to do what we can."
There was an intensity in Sarah"s manner which Little Peter could not understand. He was in ignorance of all that Sarah knew, and perhaps if he had known his reply might have been somewhat different.
"It"s good of you, Sarah. I don"t know what to do or where to go."
"You can stay here, too."
"No, no. I can"t do that," he said hastily; and then fearing that he had said too much, added, "I"ll leave the children for a little while.
They"ll be safe here till after the battle you tell about."
"I wish you would, Peter. You couldn"t please us better. Who"s that man with you?" she added, apparently for the first time becoming aware of Ted"s presence.
"A man to see your father," said Little Peter evasively. "Is he home?"
"No, no," and Sarah shuddered as she spoke. "He came last night, but he didn"t stay long. He went away again, and I don"t know when he"ll come again. It"ll be a long time. I hope"--
What Sarah hoped for she did not explain, and Little Peter said, "I want to talk with Ted before I say anything more. He"s the man out there with the children. I"ll be back in a minute."
Many minutes pa.s.sed, however, before the lad returned. He called to Ted and for a long time they talked together. Ted was decidedly averse to the plan of leaving the children in Benzeor"s home, and freely offered to take them with him to the place where he had left Sallie and his own little ones, also venturing to refer several times to the fact that Sallie was his wife.
Pleased as Little Peter would have been to accept the offer, Sarah"s pleadings could not be forgotten, and as he felt that the children would be safe where they then were, he declined the kind offer of Ted.
"I"ll tell you what, my lad," said Ted at last. "If the armies are as near here as the girl says they are, the thing for you and me to do is to go over there. They may need us, too. The most I"ve done so far has been to look out for that stuff the men brought up the Shrewsbury in the supply boat. That"s all in good hands now, and I"m free to go. Jesh will be glad to go, too."
"But you can"t leave Sallie and the babies."
"Yes, I can, too. Sallie"s my wife, ye know, and when I took her over to the Dennises I told her I might not be back for a week or two. She won"t be disappointed, and Jesh will be tickled to pieces to join the army.
Jest look at his ears now. When his ears is that way, I always know Jeshurun wants to fight the Dutch butchers."
"We"ve no other place to go to, or at least I haven"t," said Little Peter thoughtfully. "Well, we"ll do as you say. I"ll go and tell Sarah."
"I"m so glad you"ll leave the children," said Sarah eagerly, when Little Peter reported the decision which had been made. "It isn"t much we can do, as I told you, but we do want to do everything we can for you."
"It"s good of you to take them."
"It"s good of you to leave them. There"s one thing, though, I must tell you. We haven"t much to eat in the house. There"s some meal over at the mill, and father would have gone for it if he"d been home to-day. But he isn"t here and I don"t know what we"ll do."
"You"d like to have me go over there and get it, before we start," said the boy. "Have you got your horses yet?"
"Yes, there are two in the barn, and you can take the heavy wagon. It"s kind of you to do it, Little Peter, but it won"t take you long, and you don"t know how much it will help us just now."
"I"ll go right away."
Little Peter turned and explained to Ted the cause of the delay. At first, Ted insisted upon going with him, but as the lad explained that only two hours would be required for the journey, he persuaded him to remain.
In a few minutes the two horses had been led forth from the barn, and hitched to the wagon ("geared" was what Ted called the task), and then Little Peter mounted the seat, grasped the reins in his hands, and turned down the lane, on what proved to be the most eventful ride in all his life.
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE RIDE TO THE MILL
THE early morning had not yet gone when Little Peter started on his journey to the mill. He knew the place well, for many a time had he gone there for his father. It was an antiquated structure beside a pond, which had been formed by a dam built across the very brook near which he and Indian John had pa.s.sed the preceding night.
The work at the mill had been somewhat interrupted since the outbreak of the war, but the increasing necessities of the people of Old Monmouth had led the miller to resume his labors, and Sarah had informed Little Peter that he would surely find him in his accustomed place.
At times, the road led through the woods, and the boy could almost touch the bushes that grew close to the sandy roadway on either side. His view was somewhat obstructed by these,--and that fact, together with the unbroken stillness that rested over all, combined to make Little Peter watchful, and somewhat fearful as well.
The sunlight flickered through the treetops and cast fantastic shadows on the ground. The horses did not increase their speed above a slow trot, for the heat was oppressive and the sandy road was heavy; and, eager as Little Peter was to be back again at Benzeor"s house, he had not the heart to urge on the toiling beasts. The mill was not more than three miles from the place from which he had started, and at the pace at which the horses were then going the lad thought he would be back in less than two hours.
He had covered about half of the way to the mill when his horses, with a sudden snort of fear, darted to one side of the roadway. Little Peter quickly drew the reins tight, and stood up to discover the cause of the alarm.
Two men stepped from the bushes into the road, and as they grasped the horses by their bits the lad at once recognized them as Barzilla Giberson and Jacob Vannote.
"We thought you were Benzeor," exclaimed Barzilla, as he discovered who the driver was.
"I"ve got his horses," replied Little Peter.
"So I see. What are you doing with them?"
"Going to the mill. You know the children are at Benzeor"s house, and Sarah wanted me to go for some meal. She said there was none in the house and her father wasn"t likely to be home in time to get it, so I came for it."
"Where"s your father?"
"He"s been sent to New York."
"So I"ve heard. Little Peter, do you know who made the attack on your house?"
"It was Fenton"s gang, I"m sure."
"So am I, and I ought to know, for I was there myself."
"You there?" exclaimed Little Peter. He did not refer to the suspicions he had entertained concerning the very men who then stood before him; but he had never expected them to declare their actions so boldly. The alarm which he had felt, when the two men had suddenly presented themselves in the road, was greatly increased now, and for a moment he glanced quickly about as if he were seeking some avenue of escape.