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 over to her, seized and imprinted a kiss upon her hand.

"Mam'zelle, eet is a shame!" he exclaimed. "We have but now finished the so excellent dinner—cabbage and—and—flesh o' the pig. Pork? Ah, yes, cabbage and pork! Eet ees a pity you did not sooner arrive!"

"Master Tomkins did himself proud," remarked John Condit with a quiet smile.

"But why did ye not invite His Excellency to stop at our house, John?" asked Mehitable quickly and reproachfully.

"Nay, it be too much to ask o' any housewife, save in necessity," General Washington answered for John. "We might have gone on to the Widow Ball, whom I call my cousin," he added. "But 'twas better so. Master Tomkins was ready and able to serve us! But come, my child, an ye wish to ride wi' your brother, ye had best mount, for we start!"

"Is General Washington related to the Widow Ball, John—truly?" exclaimed Mehitable as, riding double, they trotted after the other horsemen. "Think o' one o' our own neighbors being his cousin!"

John laughed at the awe in her voice. "He calls her cousin—meeting her and comparing notes wi' her, they think themselves second cousins by marriage through his mother, Mary Ball, and her husband, Timothy Ball," he explained.