His manner was emphatic; and Mrs. Darrah, fearing to disobey, prepared for their reception. The order impressed her quick perception with curiosity, and she resolved to know the purport of the meeting. When the officers came the family were in bed, Lydia alone being up to receive them. This done, she retired to her own couch without undressing. She was restless, and at length a higher impulse than mere curiosity determined her to become a listener. Softly she stole from her room, and, without shoes, traversed the passage to the door of the apartment where the officers were assembled. She applied her ear to the keyhole, when, after a few minutes of silence within, a voice read distinctly an order of Sir William Howe for the troops to quit the city the next night, and march out to an attack upon Washington's camp at Whitemarsh. Lydia had heard enough, and, gliding back to her room, she threw herself on her bed, but not to sleep. In a few minutes there
** Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, i., 163.
*** This view is from Second Street. The building is of imported brick, except the modern addition between the wings, which is now occupied as a clothing store by an Israelite. The house is suffered to decay, and doubtless the broom of improvement will soon sweep it away, as a cumberer of valuable ground.
[[[Information sent to Washington's Camp by Mrs. Darrah.--Disappointment of the British.]]]
{ 302}was a rap at the door; she knew its meaning, and feigned deep slumber. At the third knock she arose quickly, and let the adjutant general and his friends depart.
Mrs. Darrah now possessed a momentous seeret. She was a true friend to her country, and she felt that she had a duty to perform, and that quickly. In the still hour of the night she sent up a silent petition for heavenly guidance, and at dawn she was astir.
She awoke her husband, and informed him that flour was wanted for family use, and that she must go immediately to Frankford for it, a common occurrence in those days. * It was a cold December Decembers, morning, the snow several inches deep[[December 3, 1777]] upon the ground. On foot, and with her bag in hand, she started on her errand, stopping at the head-quarters of General Howe ** to obtain a passport to leave the city. Mrs. Darrah reached Frankford, nearly five miles distant, at an early hour, and, leaving her bag at the mill, pressed forward toward the American outposts to inform Washington of the intended night attack. She met Lieutenant-colonel Craig, who had been sent out by the commander-in-ehief to gain information respecting the enemy. To him she told the secret, and, hastening baek to the mill, shouldered the bag of flour, and returned home with a heart full of thankfulness for being made an instrument of usefulness to her country, as she believed, and as the result proved.