"Hush! Hush!" said his companion, hastily readjusting the hat and wig, which had been displaced and showed underneath fair hair and a skin unstained by butternut juice. "Are you hurt?" "No; thanks to your wit and strong arm, am safe. And you?" "Not a bit, not a bit!" answered Captain Elmer. "But it was an unlucky thing for me. My life is in your hands, Friend Reinhart; will you sell it?" "What do you take me for?" asked Caspar, indignantly. "Am I a dog of Tory?" "No, truly; but we of the Jerseys have little reason to love or trust the Hessians. Well, do what you will; 'tis but the fortune of war." "Hush!" said Caspar, imperatively. "Here comes the English major. You have been hurt by the beam, and can hardly stand; do you comprehend?" "Yes, yes! But you. Don't let me get you into trouble!" "Hush!" said Caspar, again. And at that moment, Major André made his appearance on the scene. "What is the matter? Oh, I see. I told Barne the screen would never stand. Was any one hurt? What! You, my good fellow?" "Not much," answered the pretended blacksmith, setting his teeth as in pain—"only my shin; but it aches for the minute, and I don't believe I am good for much more work this afternoon." "We can do no more, at any rate, till the screen is set up again," remarked Caspar. "Very well; there will be time to finish in the morning. Be on hand bright and early. There is a guinea for you, Friend Jonathan, to buy a plaister. You are a likely fellow, too. Suppose you enlist, take the king's money, and help to drive the Yankees out of Pennsylvania?" "I should make but a poor hand at thy carnal weapons of warfare, friend," answered Jonathan Elmer, coolly pocketing the money. "Thank thee for thy proffer, all the same." "I say! Where do you lodge, in case I want you again?" said Major André. "At the sign of the Fast Horse, in Second street," answered Jonathan. "Very good; I shall know where to find you. I must hunt up my precious carpenters and make them do their work over again." "Now he is gone, you had better be going too," said Caspar. "I am entirely of your opinion," answered Captain Elmer. "If I saved your life, you have spared mine, so we are fairly even, since you might have betrayed me to yonder prince of popinjays with a word. Should you ever be in straits within the American lines, ask for Jonathan Elmer. And here: take this for a keepsake." "What will you do?" asked Caspar, mechanically holding the watch which Captain Elmer put into his hands. "Well enough, never fear. I have friends enough in town, and I know every creek on the Delaware. Farewell! I see our fine major coming this way again." Jonathan Elmer limped deliberately away till he had turned the corner, when he exchanged his limp for a rapid walk, turned the corner of a narrow alley leading to the water, and was out of sight in an instant. CHAPTER V. _A DOOR OPENED._