“Yes, so it is. Is that you, Miss Santon? It sounds like your voice.”
“Yes. Why, can’t you see me?”
“No, they got a lot of the tar in my eyes, and they have swollen shut. I have just been wandering in the woods, feeling my way. Would it be asking too much for you to conduct me to the home of a patriot, where I can get rid of the tar and feathers?”
“Indeed, I shall be only too glad to help you, Mr. Miller. I will guide you to my home, and father will help you get rid of your coat of tar and feathers and will give you some of his clothes to put on. Give me your hand.”
She took hold of Miller’s hand, and they made their way through the timber at a moderate pace, the young man telling the story of the affair in detail as they went.
The girl was profuse in her denunciations of the ruffians who had perpetrated the outrage, and said that they ought to be punished. But as the majority of the people in that vicinity were Tories, it was not likely that the ruffians would be bothered.
When they arrived at Lizzie’s home, Mr. Santon took Miller in hand, and after an hour or so of hard work, got much of the tar and feathers washed off. The young man had been bathing his eyes at the same time, and had gotten them so that he could open them part way and could see, so he now donned shirt, and coat, given him by the patriot settler, and felt much better.
“I’ll be all right now,” he said. “Thanks to you and Lizzie, Mr. Santon.”
“That’s all right. You’re welcome, Mr. Miller. I’ve kind of expected something of this kind, for I knew you were in sympathy with the patriot Cause, and I have heard the Tories say that they didn’t like the idea of having a rebel to teach their children. You kind of took the side of the patriot children, in their squabbles with the Tory children at school, you know, and the Tories didn’t like that.”
“Yes, that is true. Well, I suppose that there would be no use for me to go back to the settlement.”