Just then the rear door opened noisily and Jonas Welfare hurried into the room. "Captain, they are coming!" he exclaimed. "I hear the tramp of the horses on the road."
[CHAPTER XVII]
IN WHICH MR. WAXPENNY ASSERTS THE MAJESTY OF THE LAW, AND THE CURTAIN FALLS
"Coming, are they?" said Captain Stanbury. "Well, I am ready." He buttoned his coat across his breast, and picked up a hat that lay on the table. "Can you furnish a couple of extra mounts, Welfare?" he added.
"Yes, I can fix you," said the farmer. "I have three horses in the barn."
"Father, where are you going?" exclaimed Nathan.
"I am about to leave this noble gentleman's house for a safer refuge," Captain Stanbury answered. "To be brief, my boy, I fear I am in some danger. Last night the farmer's hireling, a surly fellow, whom I have long suspected, vanished mysteriously. I concluded that he had gone to New York to denounce me, and Welfare shared my opinion. He spent the day in beating up a score of loyal yeomen, and they are now here to take me to New Brunswick. You and Godfrey will go along, of course. The fact that the enemy have been raiding almost nightly between here and Sandy Hook, made a large escort necessary for my safety."
Meanwhile the muffled sounds of hoofs and a jangle of equipments had been heard in the yard, and, now, just as the Captain finished his explanation, there was a sharp rap on the front door.
"Is that you, Ruggles?" the farmer called loudly, as he led his companions into the hall.