“Come, Sally,” she cried. “I have a feeling that——”
“So have I,” exclaimed Sally breathlessly. “Let’s run, Peggy.”
“Bless my soul, Miss Peggy,” ejaculated the doughty governor, as the girls entered the kitchen. “Who would have thought to find you here? And this is your friend, Miss Sally, eh?”
“I am glad to see thee, sir,” said Peggy warmly. “And how are thy wife and daughters?”
“Well, I thank you. They are with me at Trenton. By the way, Mistress Johnson here hath been telling me what a time you’ve had trying to get home. Knowing what a care girls can be, I have three of my own, you remember, I have consented to take you off her hands.”
“Nay,” protested Nurse Johnson, “they have been no care, sir. I really do not know what we should have done without them during the past few weeks. ’Tis only that we do not know when strife will break out again, and I shall be uneasy while they are here. I do not wish their mothers to mourn as I am doing.”
“Well, have it your own way, madam,” he answered. “If the young ladies do not mind an old man for a cavalier I shall be pleased to take them with me to Trenton. The journey to Philadelphia can be easily arranged from that place.”
“We are glad to accept, Friend Livingston,” spoke Peggy gratefully while Sally was so delighted that she could only look her thanks. “And when does thee wish to start?”
“I must get to Trenton to-day, Miss Peggy. It will mean a long, hard ride, and I hope you can be ready, say in an hour, though the time might be stretched a little, if it were absolutely necessary.”
“An hour will be more than sufficient, sir,” she replied. “We will surprise thee by being ready before that.”