People went to the old man to reprove him for his treatment of his nephew, but he would only say:
“I am cutting wood!”
While he lived with his Tory uncle, Peter used to hear strange things at night.
The old man would get up, bar all the doors, light the bayberry candle, and bring something like a leather bag to his table.
Then he would talk to himself strangely.
“One,” he would say, putting down something that rang hard on the table.
“One, if he stays with me, and is true to the King.
“Two.”
There would follow a metallic sound.
“Two, if he stays with me, and is loyal to the King.