So, yielding to his judgment with the sweet deference that was her greatest charm, Peggy bore her disappointment as best she could. It was but a few days, however, until the matter was brought up again by the fisherman.
“Peggy,” he said, “I heard as how Joe Hart was going to take his wife and baby to her folks in Virginny, so that he can join the Continentals with Gates. If you’re bound to go this might be your chance. Things don’t seem to be so bad over there as they air in this state, and it may be easier for you to get some one to take you on to Philadelphia.”
“When do they start?” asked Peggy joyfully.
“To-morrow morning. That won’t give you much time, but——”
“’Tis all I need,” she answered excitedly. “Oh, Friend Henry, how good thee is to find a chance for me.”
“There, my girl! say no more. Of course you want them even as they must want you. You’ll write sometimes, and when this awful war is over, if there air any of us left, mayhap you’ll come down to see us again.”
“I will,” she promised in tears.
“Another thing,” he said, bringing forth a few gold pieces, “you must take these with you. They will help you in your journey, but use ’em only when you can’t get what you want any other way. ’Tis better to trust to kindness of heart than to cupidity.”
In spite of her protests he made her accept them, and she sewed them in the hem of her frock, promising to use them with discretion. With many tears Peggy took leave of these kindly people the next morning, and set forth with Joe Hart and his wife and baby for Virginia. The road was mountainous, and the riding hard, but Peggy’s heart danced with gladness and she heeded not the fatigue, for at last she was going home. Home! The opaline splendor of the morning thrilled her with an appreciation that she had never felt before. What a wonderful light threaded the woods and glorified the treetops! Home!
At night they stopped at some woodman’s hut, or at a plantation, if they were near the more pretentious establishment; for inns were few, and the habitations so far removed from each other that the people gladly gave entertainment to travelers in return for the news they brought.