“But why hath it taken so long?” queried Peggy.
“Because the brigades of Baron Steuben and General Wayne lay south of the Raritan, and we had to go around them. I did not tell you, Peggy, that ’twould take so long because I feared that you would not come. It doth not matter, doth it, what way I took to safety?”
“No,” answered Peggy, touched by this allusion to her cousin’s peril. “It would have been fearful for thee to have come through the darkness alone, but oh, Harriet! I do wish thee had told me. Then I would have left a letter for mother, anyway. She will be so uneasy.”
“Never mind!” consoled Harriet. “And then you may never see me again. Shall you care, Peggy?”
“Yes,” answered Peggy soberly. “I will, but——” She paused and drew rein abruptly. “There are forms flitting about in the wood,” she whispered. “Does thee think they mean us harm?”
Harriet made no reply, but gazed intently into the forest. In the indistinct light the figures of mounted men could be seen moving like shadows among the trees. That they were gradually approaching the maidens was evident. The girl watched them for a few seconds, and then leaning forward gave a low, birdlike call. It was answered in kind on the instant, and a half dozen horsemen dashed from the wood into the narrow highway.
“Now am I safe,” cried Harriet joyfully, reaching out her hand to the foremost of the men who gathered about them. “Captain Greyling, your arrival is timely.”
“We have waited many nights for you, Mistress Owen,” said that officer. “We began to think that you might in very truth have become one of the rebels. You are most welcome.”
“Thank you,” she cried gaily. “You are not more pleased to see me than I am to be here. In truth, had I not succeeded in coming, I should not have had another opportunity. ’Twas becoming very uncomfortable in camp. I have barely escaped I know not what fate. But more of that anon. Peggy, let me present Captain Greyling of De Lancy’s Loyal Legion. My cousin, Mistress Peggy Owen, Captain Greyling.”
De Lancy’s Loyal Legion! Peggy’s cheek blanched at the name. This was a body of Tory cavalry, half freebooters and half in the regular service. Between New York and Philadelphia and the country surrounding both places the name stood for all that was terrible and malignant in human nature. So stricken with terror was she that she could not return the officer’s salutation.