“It is true,” urged Janice, as eager to assume the guilt as five minutes before she had been anxious to escape it; “and if you want proof, you will find the knife on my bed upstairs.”
“Oh, missy, missy!” cried Sukey, “wha’ fo’ youse tell dat? Now dey kill youse an’ not ole Sukey;” and the sobs of the slave redoubled as she threw herself on the floor in the intensity of her grief.
It took but few interrogations on the part of Harcourt to wring all the truth from the culprit, and ordering her to follow him to the parlour, he angrily denounced the girl to her parents. Much to her surprise, she found that this latest enormity called forth less of an outburst than her previous misconduct, her father being quite staggered by its daring and seriousness; while Mrs. Meredith, with a sudden display of maternal tenderness that Janice had not seen for years, took the girl in her arms, and tried to soothe and comfort her.
One more friend in need proved to be Clowes, who, when Harcourt declared that the girl should be carried to Princeton in the morning, along with Lee, that Lord Cornwallis might decide as to her punishment, sought to make the officer take less summary measures, but vainly, except to win the concession that if Hennion recaptured the prisoner he would take a less drastic course. The morrow brought a return of the pursuing party, empty-handed, and in a hasty consultation it was agreed that the squire should accompany Janice, leaving Mrs. Meredith under the protection of Philemon,—an arrangement by no means pleasing to the young lieutenant, and made the less palatable by the commissary’s announcement that he should retrace his own steps to Princeton in the hope of being of service to his friends. Philemon’s protests were ineffectual, however, to secure any amendment; and the sleigh, with Brereton’s mare and Joggles to pull it, received the three, and, together with Lee and the escort, set out for headquarters about noon.
With the arrival at Nassau Hall, then serving as barracks for the force centred there, a fresh complication arose, for Colonel Harcourt learned that Lord Cornwallis, having seen his force safely in winter quarters at Princeton, Trenton, and Burlington, had departed the day previous for New York, while General Grant, who succeeded him, was still at Trenton. Taking the night to consider what was best to be done, Harcourt made up his mind to carry his prisoners to New York, a decision which called forth most energetic protests from the squire, who had contrived in the doings of the last two days to take cold, and now asserted that an attack of the gout was beginning. His pleadings were well seconded by the baron, and not to harass too much one known to be friendly both to the cause and to the commander-in-chief, the colonel finally consented that the fate of Janice should be left to the general in command. This decided, Lee was once more mounted, and captive and captors set about retracing their steps, while the sleigh carried the squire and Janice, under guard, on to Trenton, Mr. Meredith having elected to make the short trip to that town rather than await the indefinite return of Grant.
It was dusk when they reached Trenton, and once more they were doomed to a disappointment, for the major-general had departed to Mount Holly. Mr. Meredith’s condition, as well as nightfall, put further travel out of the question, and an appeal was made to Rahl, the Hessian colonel commanding the brigade which held the town, to permit them to remain, which, thanks to the influence of the commissary, was readily granted, on condition that they could find quarters for themselves.
“No fear,” averred the squire, cheerily. “I’ll never want for sup or bed in Trenton while Thomas Drinker lives.”
“Ach!” exclaimed the colonel. “Dod iss mein blace ver I sleeps und eats und drinks. Und all bessitzen you will it find.”
Notwithstanding the warning, the sleigh was driven to the Drinkers’ door, now flanked by a battery of field-pieces, and in front of which paced sentries, who refused to let them pass. Their protests served to attract the attention of the inmates, and brought the trio of Drinkers running to the door; in another moment the two girls were locked in each other’s arms, while Mr. Meredith put his question concerning possible hospitality.
“Ay, in with thee all, Friend Lambert,” cried Mr. Drinker, leading the way. “Thou’lt find us pushed into the garret, and forced to eat at second table, while our masters take our best, but of what they leave us thou shalt have thy share.”