Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/225

Rh ther and Hannah. They can almost look after themselves without any help from us."

"But the house is burned."

"Yes, it was on fire when we got there. We found mother and Hannah fighting it, but it did n't do any good. It was too late. Claud Brown and his gang had been there and gone. It would have done you good to hear mother tell how Hannah threw a bucket of water on the place where Claud himself started the fire and how he turned on her."

"He did?" exclaimed Robert angrily.

"Oh, yes, but the first he knew she let him have another bucket right in the face. It's a pity that girl is a girl. If she was only a man she'd be worth any dozen men in the whole army. She is n't afraid of anybody: and yet, let me tell you, Robert Dorlon, she is the best girl you can find the length of the Hudson River."

"Yes, I think so," responded Robert quietly. "She certainly helped me out of a bad affair. Where is she now?"

"She and my mother have gone back in the country to my aunt's. They 'll stay there for a while. My father is going to try to get hold of Claud Brown."

"He can't leave the fort."