"I'll tell you what, my lad," said Ted at last. "If the armies are as near here as the girl says they are, the thing for you and me to do is to go over there. They may need us, too. The most I've done so far has been to look out for that stuff the men brought up the Shrewsbury in the supply boat. That's all in good hands now, and I'm free to go. Jesh will be glad to go, too."
"But you can't leave Sallie and the babies."
"Yes, I can, too. Sallie's my wife, ye know, and when I took her over to the Dennises I told her I might not be back for a week or two. She won't be disappointed, and Jesh will be tickled to pieces to join the army. Jest look at his ears now. When his ears is that way, I always know Jeshurun wants to fight the Dutch butchers."
"We've no other place to go to, or at least I haven't," said Little Peter thoughtfully. "Well, we'll do as you say. I'll go and tell Sarah."
"I'm so glad you'll leave the children," said Sarah eagerly, when Little Peter reported the decision which had been made. "It isn't much we can do, as I told you, but we do want to do everything we can for you."
"It's good of you to take them."
"It's good of you to leave them. There's one thing, though, I must tell you. We haven't much to eat in the house. There's some meal over at the mill, and father would have gone for it if he'd been home to-day. But he isn't here and I don't know what we'll do."
"You'd like to have me go over there and get it, before we start," said the boy. "Have you got your horses yet?"
"Yes, there are two in the barn, and you can take the heavy wagon. It's kind of you to do it, Little Peter, but it won't take you long, and you don't know how much it will help us just now."
"I'll go right away."