n. A few whispered that it
was a false alarm, and smiled hopefully. Some slept; others sat
quietly by their slumbering children, or stood about the rooms in
listening attitudes. All wore the tense expression of those who face a
fearful danger. Slowly the time passed, until another hour had gone
by. All at once the sound of hurrying feet was heard without, and
Peggy and Sally ran out on the verandah to find the meaning of it. It
proved to be a scouting party sent down the river road by Captain
Johnson to intercept the foe should it approach from that direction.

"I feel better out here in the air; doesn't thee, Sally?" asked Peggy
after the men had passed.

"Yes; let's stay for a while. There is naught more that can be done
inside."

For answer Peggy slipped her arm about Sally's waist, and the two sat
down on the steps of the porch. The house was near the bay, and the
restless lapping of the waves smote their ears with rhythmic
dismalness. A brisk southwest wind was singing through the pines, but
after the tumult engendered by the alarm, the stillness seemed
abnormal. The streets were deserted now, and the only sign of life
came from the dim lanthorns of the blockhouse. Nothing was stirring
save the waves, the wind, and the leaves of the forest. Slowly the
gray dawn crept into the sky, and still the maidens sat on the steps,
silently waiting and watching.

Then, so suddenly that it drew an involuntary scream from both of
them, a rifle went bang among the trees in the direction of the fort.
Another report rang out, followed almost instantly by twenty or more
in a volley. In the imperfect light of the dawn a number of dark forms
could be seen running toward the blockhouse.

"'Tis from the Court House Road," exclaimed Sally rising quickly. "And
oh, Peggy! Fairfax thought they would come the river way."

"Yes," said Peggy with despair in her voice. There seemed to be a
great many of the attacking party, and she recalled Fairfax's
misgivings concerning the fewness of the garrison. "And he hath sent
part of his force to meet them there. I fear! I fear!"

Had Peggy been aware of the full force of the attacking party she
would have known that there were grounds for grave apprehension. This
is what had happened: Forty loyalists, under command of Captain Evan
Thomas, had embarked from New York on whaleboats manned by Lieutenant
Blanchard, of the British navy, and eighty armed seamen. Landing at
Coates' Point, a place nea