"'Tis not like Philadelphia, mistress?"
"No, indeed. To think that six months gone I was there, a girl in school, and now——"
"Now you are a teacher yourself, Mistress Zane, and we be all learning from you."
"Learning what, pray?"
"The game of hearts."
"Faith, Master McCullough, if rumor belie you not, I think you must have been a past master at that game before I came upon the scene."
"Nay, not so. Dame Rumor does me wrong, but——"
"Well, let it pass, Master McCullough. You brought the alarm, I believe. Was it real? Are there any Indians about?"
"We have not seen any as yet in the valley, but——"
"And was it you, sir, who tramped all night on the block-house over our heads?"