Page:Dorothy's spy; a story of the first "fovrth of Jvly" celebration, New York, 1776.djvu/141

128 It was Master Lamb who first saw a glimmer of light in the cloud, and he cried suddenly, as if such a possibility had never before occurred to him:

"After all, friend Dean, we are the only persons, with the exception of the spy himself, who knows what has been done. The citizens must believe that those who chased the Britisher were mistaken in the supposition that he entered this house, and if we hold our peace no one will be the wiser."

The silversmith stared at his friend as if unable to understand all that had been said, and then he cried:

"But we know that because of us an enemy has escaped!"

"Yet not by our desire or intention, for we were decided to give him up, although as to how it might safely be done was not agreed upon. It has all been the work of the girls, and that stupid black man. Your task shall be to make certain he holds his tongue, and the whole affair is as clear as the sun."

Master Dean persisted for some time in believing that he and his neighbor were culpable, and declared that he would never again be able to look his fellow patriots in the face; but when the ladies joined with Master Lamb, he finally took a less despairing view of the affair.

It was now so near morning that Mistress Dean