to look at them
as any boy might do, and who was perfectly innocent of any designs
against them. The men may have been satisfied with this explanation in
regard to her son; but they asserted that they knew that there was a
refugee concealed somewhere in that neighborhood, and they believed that
he was in an empty house near by, of which they were told she had the
key. Mrs. Morris, who had given a signal, previously agreed upon, to the
man in the "auger hole," to keep very quiet, wished to gain as much time
as possible, and exclaimed,

"Bless me! I hope you are not Hessians."

"Do we look like Hessians?" asked one of them rudely.

"Indeed, I don't know."

"Did you ever see a Hessian?"

"No, never in my life; but they are men, and you are men, and may be
Hessians, for anything I know. But I will go with you into Colonel Cox's
house, though indeed it was my son at the mill; he is but a boy, and
meant no harm; he wanted to see the troops."

So she took the key of the empty house referred to, and went in ahead of
the men, who searched the place thoroughly, and, after finding no place
where anybody could be, they searched one or two of the houses
adjoining; but for some reason they did not think it worth while to go
through Mrs. Morris's own house. Had they done so, it is not probable
that the good lady could have retained her composure, especially if they
had entered the room in which was the linen closet; for, even had they
been completely deceived by the piles of sheets and pillowcases, there
is no knowing but that the unfortunate man in the "auger hole" might
have been inclined to sneeze.

But although she was a brave woman, and very humanely inclined, Mrs.
Morris felt she could not any longer take the risk of a refugee in her
house. And so that night, after dark, she went up to the parson in the
"auger hole," and made him come out; and she took him into the town,
where he was concealed by some of the Tory citizens, who were better
adapted to take care of the refugee than this lone Quaker woman with her
two inquisitive boys. It is believed that soon after this he took refuge
in New York, which was then in the hands of the British.

Further on in the journal, Mrs. Morris indulges in some moral
reflections in regard to the war in which her countrymen were engaged,
and no one of right feeling will object to her sentiments.

"Jan. 14. I hear Gen. Howe sent a request to Washington desiring
three days cess