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 now was her chance. "I be dressed and ready, sir. Why not allow me to purchase the articles ye need and return wi' them this afternoon?" she suggested respectfully, her heart beating with hope.

Master Todd hesitated. Then, to the girl's joy, he nodded. "Ye be as good as a boy, Sally," he said approvingly. Twill help me, indeed, an ye bring home the things. Uzal, there, hath the list—I gave it him wi' my money to put i' his saddlebag. He will gi' it ye when ye reach the Town by the River, wi' the necessary shillings. He was to ha' purchased the articles while I lodged Master Lawrence, here, wi' the authorities." Master Todd held out his hand to Jerry. "No hard feelings, sir," he said wistfully. "We must each do our duty, ye mind."

Sally, glancing at the young red-coat, thought him more sober than she had ever seen him. But later, trotting along the quiet lanes, he seemed to recover his spirits and chatted away gayly with the girl until they began to pass the ruins Cornwallis had left behind him upon the outskirts of Newark—burned farmhouses and barns and devastated farms—a few months before, during the fateful year of 1776. As he rode silently along behind them, Uzal Ball's face grew a little more grim and set when they came upon the places which had once been happy homes; and gradually Jerry, feeling the burning glances Uzal cast upon him, fell silent