Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/182

166 had given him at the time of his departure from Fort Montgomery, with the design that if he should choose the back roads, in order to avoid the peril he had met on his way up, he would not be at a loss to decide which to take. And he was now following the suggestions which had been given him, for, instead of returning from the home, or what had once been the home, of Hannah Nott, to the main road which was nearer the river, he had kept on up the hill and was headed now for a region with which he was not so familiar as he was with that in which he had formerly made his journeys. At one place on the map General Clinton had indicated the location of a tavern where he might stop for the first night on his return journey. The keeper of this tavern was Jacob Gunning, a man unknown to Robert, but one in whom the general had implicit confidence, for he had assured the young express that Jacob was a stanch friend of the colonies and that his house was a place where the patriots of the region frequently assembled. However, Jacob Gunning's patriotism was known only to a few, and the general had explained that Robert was to be guarded in what he might say to him in the presence of others, for the man could aid the continentals,