taken it as the property of an enemy. But that the soldiers of her own
country, the men on whom she and all her friends and neighbors depended
for protection and safety, should turn on her and rob her, as if they
had been a set of marauding Hessians, was something she could scarcely
comprehend.

But it did not take her long to understand, that no matter who they were
or what they were,--whether they thought they had a right to do what
they threatened, or whether they had no regard for right and
justice,--they were in earnest, and intended to take her horse. When
this conviction flashed into the mind of Tempe Wick, there also flashed
into it a determination to show these men that a Jersey girl had a will
of her own, and that if they wanted her property, they would have to do
a great deal more than simply to come to her and ask her to hand it over
to them.

After a little parley, during which the man who held her bridle let go
of it, supposing she was about to dismount, she suddenly gave her
spirited horse a sharp cut with the whip, dashed between two of the
soldiers, and, before they could comprehend what had happened, she was
off and away.

As fast as they could run, the soldiers followed her, one or two of them
firing their guns in the air, thinking to frighten her and make her
stop; but, as though she had been a deer and her pursuers ordinary
hunters, she swiftly sped away from them.

But they did not give up the chase. Some of them knew where this girl
lived, and were confident that when they reached her house, they would
have the horse. If they had known it was such a fine animal, they would
have come after it before. According to their belief, good horses should
go into the army, and people who staid at home, and expected other
people to fight for them, ought to be willing to do what they could to
help in the good cause, and at least give their horses to the army.

As Tempe sat upon her bounding steed, she knew very well that the
soldiers could never catch her; but her heart sank within her as she
thought of what would happen when they came to the farm and demanded her
horse. Running away from them was only postponing her trouble for a
little while, for there was no one about the place who could prevent
those men from going to the barn and taking away the animal.

It would be of no use to pass her house and ride on and on. Where should
she go? She must come back some time, and all the soldiers would have to