Page:Dorothy's spy; a story of the first "fovrth of Jvly" celebration, New York, 1776.djvu/154

Rh "De Britishers am pilin' up 'roun' Kip's bay, Massa Dean? Dere's five frigates, an' more boats filled wid sojers dan you could count. Its gwine ter be mighty hot 'fore long!"

This startling announcement had hardly been made, when the roar of heavy guns broke the stillness, and in an instant it was as if the earth literally trembled under the detonations.

The second battle was on, and with the Americans ready for retreat, the result could not long be in doubt.

As every reader knows, the British force drove our people like sheep. Before the sun set on that night the enemy was in possession of the city, and concerning the commencement of British rule in New York, the following brief but graphic account has been given:

"It bore much the appearance of a dismantled town. Houses and stores were closed, bells removed from churches and public buildings, brass knockers from houses, everything portable and of value the flying people had taken with them. On Saturday, the 21st (September), at midnight, a fire broke out in a low groggery near Whitehall street, in the southeastern part of the town, and