parations, for, as you know, her brother is imprisoned in the city;
and since her acceptance of the pleasure coach from the Mayor of New
York (which he presented her with when he was released from Litchfield
gaol), she has been pining to go to him. And, beside, she travels in her
coach as far as possible; and my mother said last night that General
Washington was to send her safe-conduct through our lines to the city."

"We must first consult your father," said Miss Euphemia gravely, much
upset by the suggestion of making up her mind to do anything in haste,
for she was a very deliberate person, and despised hurried decisions. "I
will find him as soon as he has finished the dispatches, and, moreover,
this letter to him from Gulian may have directions. I incline to think
that you, Betty, will be the one to go. Pamela can scarce bear the
journey in this weather," and gathering her papers carefully in her
hand, Miss Euphemia left the room, and the girls gazed blankly at each
other with startled eyes and throbbing hearts.

CHAPTER VII

WHAT FOLLOWED A LETTER

"It was all decided last night," said Betty, tucking her little feet
carefully under her gown and clasping her knees with her hands to keep
them warm, as she sat in Moppet's chair, which stood close by the fire,
where a log burned and crackled in the big chimney--a most unusual
luxury for those days, and granted only to Moppet's youth and slight
delicacy of constitution. "Father found the pass from General Washington
among his dispatches brought by the courier; and as it includes Mrs.
Seymour's maid, he arranged with her that I go instead, as Mrs. Seymour
kindly says she can procure another attendant in New York. I can scarce
believe it possible, Sally. Oh, fancy my having to live in a city
occupied by the British!"

"Ah," sighed Miss Moppet, pressing her head against Betty's knee, and a
spark of interest lighting up her doleful little face, "if only some of
them be like my good"--

"Oh, some of the Tories may be passably amusing," said Betty hastily,
giving Moppet a warning glance, as she checked the words on the child's
lips by a soft touch of her hand. "I doubt not that Gulian, my
brother-in-law, has fine qualities, else Clarissa had not been so fond
of him as to leave us all and go so far from us. But I trust that even
Gulian may not see fit to talk loyalist to me; my naughty tongue would
get me into trouble straightway."

"You must learn to control