"Oh, aye! Well, that case o' the red-coat comes up before the Council o' Safety to-day; ye know, the young red-coat who escaped and was caught i' Newark not many weeks ago. Since Master Todd be not yet home, Sheriff Carmichæl hath requested Uzal to appear as a witness against the youth. And so"
But here Rachel stopped short and stared. Sally had scrambled into her gown and had shot out of the door and down the three steps into the central hall and thence down the porch steps like a rabbit trying to escape the swoop of a hawk. Her clear young voice presently floated up to Rachel Ball's listening ears.
"Uzal! Oh, Uzal, take me wi' ye to Morris Town!"
"Well"—Rachel shook her head critically—"must say the lass lacks not boldness, forsooth!"
Downstairs, beneath the big walnut tree, Uzal, already mounted upon his horse, though still conversing with his mother, looked with amused eyes at Sally's dishevelled figure flying toward him. The Widow Ball turned in surprise and some displeasure.
"Why, Sally, whatever put such an idea i' your head?" she said reprovingly.
But Uzal came unexpectedly to Sally's help. "Let her come, Mother! The company will be pleasant for me, and I will vouch her safe return!
