hundreds of them — in jack-boots and helmets.”

“Were their jackets red?”

“He could not tell. They were too closely cloaked,”

“Colonel Moylan’s dragoons?” I said anxiously. “Do you think so?”

“The Sagamore did not think so, and dared not ask, but started instantly cross-country with the information. I had been waiting to intercept him and bring him here to you, as I promised you, but missed him on the Bedford road, where he should have passed. Therefore, I hastened hither to confess to you my failure, and chanced to overtake him but a moment since, as he crossed the dooryard yonder.”

Even in my growing anxiety, I was conscious of the faithfulness that this poor girl had displayed —