Don clenched his fists. “Two Redcoats to live with us all winter!” he exclaimed. “That’s what it means, Aunt Martha.”
“Oh, dear,” said his aunt and sat down by the window. “Two—two Redcoats to track in mud and dirt and scratch and tear things with their heavy shoes——”
“Now, don’t worry, Aunt Martha,” Don interrupted her. “Maybe it won’t be so bad, having them here. And maybe before long General Washington will have his army ready to drive all of them out of the town.”
Aunt Martha soon recovered her spirits and set about making ready for the two unwelcome guests. “I suppose if they insist on having the big front room, we’ll have to give it to them,” she said. “I don’t see any other way out of it.”
“Who Lives Here Beside Yourself, Young Sire?”
Nevertheless, she spent most of the day in cleaning the spare bedroom, and when Don looked at it that afternoon he could not help smiling. “You’ve made it the best-looking room in the house,” he said. “Maybe they’ll prefer it to the big room.”
“That’s just what I had in mind,” his aunt replied and smiled.
“Oh, say!” exclaimed Don, and his face suddenly became pale. “All that stuff in the cellar—what if they should discover it!”
Aunt Martha shared her nephew’s agitation, and she bit her lips in perplexity. “I haven’t thought of that,” she said. “We’ll just have to run our chances and see that the door is kept locked always.”