band. Fortunately, his quick motion had caused him to escape a
thrust aimed at his life, and it was by his clothes only that he was
confined.

"No, Mr. Birch," said the Skinner, "we know you too well for a
slippery rascal, to trust you out of sight--your gold, your gold!"

"You have it," said the peddler, writhing in agony.

"Aye, we have the purse, but you have more purses. King George[71] is
a prompt paymaster, and you have done him many a piece of good
service. Where is your hoard? Without it you will never see your
father."

[Footnote 71: George III., King of England.]

"Remove the stone underneath the woman," cried the peddler, eagerly;
"remove the stone."

"He raves! He raves!" said Katy, instinctively moving her position to
a different stone from the one on which she had been standing. In a
moment it was torn from its bed, and nothing but earth was seen
underneath.

"He raves! you have driven him from his right mind," continued the
trembling spinster; "would any man in his senses keep gold under a
hearth?"

"Peace, babbling fool!" cried Harvey. "Lift the corner stone, and you
will find that which will make you rich, and me a beggar."

"And then you will be despisable," said the housekeeper bitterly. "A
peddler without goods and without money is sure to be despisable."

"There will be enough left to pay for his halter," cried the Skinner,
who was not slow to follow the instructions of Harvey, soon lighting
upon a store of English guineas. The money was quickly transferred to
a bag, notwithstanding the declarations of the spinster that her dues
were unsatisfied, and that, of right, ten of the guineas were her
property.

Delighted with a prize that greatly exceeded their expectations, the
band prepared to depart, intending to take the peddler with them, in
order to give him up to the American troops above, and to claim the
reward offered for his apprehension. Everything was ready, and they
were about to lift Birch in their arms--for he resolutely refused to
move an inch--when a form appeared in their midst, which appalled the
stoutest heart among them. The father had risen from his bed, and he
tottered forth at the cries of his son. Around his body was thrown the
sheet of the bed, and his fixed eye and haggard face gave him the
appearance of a being from another world. Even Katy and Caesar thought
it was the spirit of the elder Birch, and they fled the house,
followed by the alarmed Skinners in