In the gathering darkness Phillis saw a redcoat reconnoitring the grounds. He rapped upon the door leading to the kitchen. She did not unloose the chain, but opened it sufficiently wide to talk with the fellow.
"To see if ye have anything belonging to the king. People have seized the king's property and taken it into their houses."
"We haven't anything belonging to King George."
"Go away. Dere can't no lobster come into dis yeer kitchen," said Phillis, attempting to close the door. But she saw the muzzle of a gun thrust into the opening. Her hands grasped it. One vigorous pull and it was hers, and the villain was fleeing.
"I'se got it! I'se got de villin's gun. Wid de pistils, de musket, and de b'ilin' water we'll fight 'em!" she shouted.
Ruth, keeping watch, saw a squad of men. One of them rattled the knocker.
"What do you wish?" she asked, raising a window.
"I am commissioned to search for property belonging to the crown."
"I am a lieutenant in the command of Colonel Brush."
"I do not recognize your authority, neither that of Colonel Brush nor General Howe, who has taken his departure."
"I shall be under the necessity of entering by force if you do not open the door."
The soldiers pounded with the butts of their muskets, but the panels did not yield.
A bayonet was thrust through a pane, and the glass rattled to the ground; the butt of a musket smashed the sash, and a pair of hands grasped the window-sill. Memory recalled a day when two soldiers assaulted her; from that hour a redcoat had been hateful. She seized one of the pistols. Remembering what Pompey had said, she picked the lighted candle from its socket and thrust it into the weapon. The ruffian was astride the window-sill. There was a flash, a loud report, and he dropped with a thud to the ground.
From the balcony came a flood of boiling water upon the astonished ruffians.
"I'll give it to ye, b'ilin' hot!" shouted Phillis. The ruffians saw the muzzle of a gun pointed towards them from the window, and the stalwart form of Pompey as he raised it to take aim. The astonished villains fled, leaving Ruth, Pompey, and Phillis victors in the encounter.
Morning dawned fair and beautiful. The robins and bluebirds were singing in the garden. Ruth heard again the beating of drums, the blast of bugles. General Washington was entering the town. By his side rode Major Robert Walden.