roops came here from Whitemarsh, if my memory serves me right," said
Edward Allison.

"Yes," assented Mr. Dinsmore. "It was Washington's decision that they
should do so, as here he would be near enough to watch the movements of
the British army, then in possession of Philadelphia. He wished, for one
thing, to keep the foraging parties in check, protecting the people from
their depredations."

"Wasn't it in the winter they were here, papa?" asked Elsie.

"Yes; and the poor fellows found it terribly cold; especially for men so
poorly provided as they were with what are esteemed by most civilized
people as the barest necessities of life--food, clothing, shoes, and
blankets."

"Yes, I remember reading about it--how their poor feet bled on the ground
as they marched over it, with neither shoes nor stockings," said Elsie,
tears springing to her eyes as she spoke. "And didn't they suffer from
hunger too, papa?"

"Yes, they did, poor fellows!" he sighed. "They endured a great deal in
the hope of winning freedom for themselves, their children, and their
country. They had not even material to raise their beds from the ground,
and in consequence many sickened and died from the dampness."

"It is really wonderful how they bore it all," said Edward. "They
certainly must have been true and ardent patriots."

"We were told that Washington's marquee stood just here in that time,"
said Elsie. "What did he want with it when he had a room in Mr. Potts'
house?"

"He occupied the marquee only while his men were building their huts,"
explained her father, "then afterward took up his quarters in that
house."

Our party now returned to their carriage and drove to Paoli--some nine
miles distant. They were told that the place of the massacre was about
a quarter of a mile from the highway, and leaving their vehicle at the
nearest point, they followed a path leading through open fields till they
came to the monument. They found it a blue clouded marble pedestal,
surmounted by a white marble pyramid, standing over the broad grave in
which lie the remains of the fifty-three Americans found in that field
the morning after the massacre, and buried by the neighboring farmers.

"Papa," said Elsie, "won't you please go over the story?"

"If a short rehearsal will not be unpleasant to our friends," he answered
kindly.

Both Rose and Edward assured him they would be glad to listen to it, and
he at once began.

"It was but a few days after