rom a neighboring
spring. While thus engaged, her husband was killed before her eyes, and
there being no one available to handle the piece, an officer ordered its
removal. Molly asked the privilege of taking her husband's place.
Permission was given, and she handled the cannon with skill throughout
the entire action.

The incident was told to Washington, who after the battle asked that she
be presented to him. He complimented her warmly, and conferred upon her
the rank of lieutenant, while Congress gave her half-pay during life.
The State of Pennsylvania, where she afterward made her home at
Carlisle, added to this, so that she lived in comfort for the rest of
her days. Her right name was Mary McAuley, and she died in Carlisle in
1833, a fine slab of marble marking her last resting-place.

DISAPPOINTMENT OVER THE AID FROM FRANCE.

Despite the great expectations roused by the friendship of France and
the arrival of her fleet, it gave little aid to the Americans until the
Yorktown campaign. D'Estaing had a fine opportunity of forcing his way
into New York, destroying the British fleet and blockading Clinton, but
he lacked the courage to do so. Then he sailed for Newport, Rhode
Island, to attack the British forces there, but matters were so delayed
that Howe arrived with a fleet of equal strength. While they were
manoeuvring for position, a violent storm arose, and, at the close,
D'Estaing sailed to Boston for repairs, taking all his troops with him,
while Howe returned to New York.

The Americans were indignant over the desertion of their allies. The
French officers were insulted on the streets of Boston, and one of them
was killed in a brawl. Sullivan and Greene were so outspoken that it
required all the shrewdness of Washington and Congress to prevent an
open rupture.

THE WYOMING MASSACRE.

In the month of July, 1778, a band of Tories and Indians entered the
lovely valley of Wyoming, under the leadership of Colonel John Butler,
whose cousin, Colonel Zebulon Butler, was commander of the old men and
boys left in the town by the departure of nearly all of the able-bodied
men to fight in the Continental armies. The patriots made a brave
defense, but they were overcome and put to flight. Women and children
ran to the woods, in which they were overtaken and tomahawked; others
died from exposure, while a few succeeded in reaching the towns on the
upper Delaware. This sad massacre has made the name of Wyoming known