"Bah!" said Elizabeth. "The scum of the earth! Williams has weapons here, and with him and the servants I'll defend the place against all the rebel cut-throats in the county." The major thought to make a last desperate attempt to dissuade Elizabeth from remaining. "That's all well enough," said he; "but there are the rebel regulars, the dragoons. They'll be raiding down to our very lines, one of these days, if only in retaliation. You know how Lord Cornwallis's party under General Grey, over in Jersey, the other night, killed a lot of Baylor's cavalry,--Mrs. Washington's Light Horse, they called the troop. And the Hessians made a great foray on the rebel families this side the river." "Ay," chirped old Valentine; "but the American Colonel Butler, and their Major Lee, of Virginia, fell on the Hessian yagers 'tween Dobbs's Ferry and Tarrytown, and killed ever so many of 'em,--and I wasn't sorry for that, neither!" "Oho!" said Colden, "you belong to the opposition." "Oh, I'm neither here nor there," replied the old man. "But they say that there Major Lee, of Virginia, is the gallantest soldier in Washington's army. He'd lead his men against the powers of Satan if Washington gave the word. Light Horse Harry, they call him,--and a fine dashing troop o' light horse he commands." "No more dashing, I'll wager, than some of ours," said Elizabeth, whose mood for the moment permitted her to talk with reason and moderation; "not even counting the Germans. And as for leaders, what do you say to Simcoe, of the Queen's Rangers, or Emmerick, or Tarleton, or"--turning to Colden--"your cousin James De Lancey, of this county, major?" The major, notwithstanding his Toryism, did not enter with enthusiasm into Elizabeth's admiration for these brave young cavalry leaders. Staten Island and East New Jersey had not offered him as great opportunities for distinction as they had had. It was, therefore, Miss Sally who next spoke. "Well, Heaven knows there are enough on either side to devastate the land and rob us of comfort and peace. One wakes in the middle of the night, at the clatter of horses riding by like the wind, and wonders whether it's friend or foe, and trembles till they're out of hearing, for fear the door is to be broken in or the house fired. And the sound of shots in the night, and the distant glare of flames when some poor farmer's home is burned over his head!" "Ay," added Mr. Valentine, "and all the cattle and crops go to the foragers, so it's no use raising any more than you can hide away for your own larder." Elizabeth was beginning to be bored, and saw nothing to gain from a continuation of these recitals. Doubtless, by this time, her room was lighted and warm. So, thoughtless of Colden, she mounted the first step of the stairway, and said: