It was then past midnight; George was on fire to be off that he might watch for Washington’s coming; but he knew that this would be both dangerous and useless, and so he remained where he was.
The clock struck two, and then pointed to the half hour before Peggy came to him again.
“They forbade me speaking to you until they had heard and understood everything concerning my escapade, as they call it,” she laughed. “And so I had to steal away.” Then, eagerly: “What have you heard? Are they really coming?”
“I have heard nothing,” said George. “We can’t hope to get news before the last moment. The rifles will then tell us what we are to expect.”
“I can’t get the picture of those great blocks of ice out of my mind,” she said, with a shudder. “And then the river looked so dark and so deep. And it was so cold and pitiless.”
They stood by one of the windows at the front of the inn; the room, save for a few other couples, was deserted. Through an open doorway at one side they could see the dancers whirl by; also there came the gleam of the brass instruments and the high-colored uniforms of the bandsmen. Another open door showed the numerous parties grouped about the tables engrossed in their game. Colonel Rahl was among those nearest the door; opposite him sat Mr. Hawksworth, and grouped about the table were numerous officers and Tory residents of quality.
“The colonel is ill prepared, should things go as we wish,” whispered George.
“The worse prepared, the better for our friends,” said Peggy, sagely.
The snow all about the inn was packed hard by the steady tramping of the Hessian guard. Under a beefy sergeant they kept all intruders at a distance; the squeaking of their boots and the clanking of their equipment were constant.
Three o’clock struck, and it was some time afterward that George became aware of an altercation going on outside the window where they sat. Since seeing Hyde and Henderson he had kept himself much in the background, but all matters in any way unusual were quick to draw his attention. So he turned at once to see what was going forward.