Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/170

for caring anything about the sorrow of his wife or the helplessness of his little girl, Robert well knew that they were not accustomed to permit any motives of sentiment to interfere with their plans. But Dirck had been taken by the Orange County militiamen and apparently in the very act of leading the Tories on some expedition, the nature of which Robert could only conjecture. It was almost impossible to conceive of the honest hearted young Dutchman as being false to the colonies; and yet he had been taken after repeated warnings and when he had been followed by the patriot guard. If he only had the time to spare he would look into the matter himself, Robert assured himself, but he must leave that for others to do. Meanwhile what was to become of Mina and her child? One solution that presented itself was to take them with him and leave them at the house of Hannah Nott. There they would be cared for, but it was uncertain what would be done there, and he did not even know whether the family was to remain. Then, too, if Dirck should return to his own home and learn that his wife and child were gone, the confusion would be greatly increased, and instead of aiding he would hinder the safety of all.