And they fell on the hasty supper with zeal,
Close-watched the while by Jennie McNeal.
For the gray-haired colonel they hovered near,
Had been her true friend, kind and dear;
So sorrow for him she could but feel,
Brave, grateful-hearted Jennie McNeal.
With never a thought or a moment more,
Bare-headed she slipped from the cottage door,
Ran out where the horses were left to feed,
Unhitched and mounted the captain’s steed,