Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/96

80 hungry, and the first thing to do is to feed him. And I agree with her, for I have n't lived with four brothers, to say nothing of father, all these years without finding out that she's right," laughed Hannah.

"Yes, I have four sons," said the woman quietly, as if in reply to the unspoken question of Robert. "They went with their father."

"Yes, they 're in Fort Montgomery, and very likely you 'll see them there; that is, if you are able to get in," said Hannah.

"Did they leave you here alone?" inquired Robert.

"No, they did n't leave me alone," retorted the girl sharply. "I have mother and the dog."

"I should think you would be afraid."

"Of what?"

"Of the Thirteen," replied Robert, recalling the anger with which they had referred to his own recent captors.

"We 're not any more afraid without our men than we would be if they were at home," said the woman quietly. "Indeed, I don't know that we are so much, for there's less likelihood of trouble if the boys are not here."

Food had now been placed upon the table,