Page:Mistress Madcap Surrenders (1926).pdf/68



HE red-coats!" Charity's face paled. "Yet are we not too near the American encampment to be molested by the British? Would they dare pursue us this far from their own base on Staten Island?" she whispered presently.

"The red-coats would dare anything!" returned Mehitable fiercely. "Besides, mayhap they be lone Tories, out to see what mischief they can bestow on honest patriots!"

But presently, straining her gaze backward over the twilight-lit road, she uttered a cry, half hysterical, half joyful.

"Father! Father! 'Tis John, not red-coats, pursuing us! I vow 'tis John and another man!" And at that instant, as though to confirm his sister's words, John Condit's voice could indeed be heard hailing them.

Squire Condit promptly pulled his horses to a standstill, and taking out his kerchief, wiped away the perspiration that was streaming down his brow.

"I' faith!" he ejaculated angrily. "It seems a