“But why didst thou not warn us, so that we might have embarked with him?” asked Mrs. Meredith.
“’T was a military secret to be told to no one.”
“Can dadda return ere the evacuation begins?”
“’T is scarce possible, even if his orders permit it.”
“Then what are we to do?”
“Thou hadst best apply at once to the deputy quartermaster-general for transports.”
Mrs. Meredith acted on this advice the following day, but without success.
“Think you the king’s ships and transports have naught to do but act as packet-boats for you Americans?” the deputy asked. “Hundreds of applications have been filed already, and not another one will we receive. If you ’d for New York, hire a passage in a private ship.”
This was easier to recommend than to do, for such was the frantic demand for accommodation that the prices had been raised to exorbitant figures, quite beyond their means. So appeal was made once more to Clowes.
“’T is something of a quandary,” he remarked; “but there is a simple way out.”