the orchard. Then I found a cornfield where Penn
was plowing, and I waited to see him come out of the rows and get lost
in them again."

"And did you like this Master Penn?"

"He was very pleasant. He showed me a nest with tiny birds in it that
were naked and ugly, but they grow beautiful presently. And he picked a
great dock leaf of berries, so that I should not get my hands scratched,
and we sat down on a stone to eat them. But I like my own cousin Andrew
better. Penn is not my cousin--Rachel said so."

Madam Wetherill nodded with piquant amusement. Perhaps there had been a
little jealousy.

"Well, I am glad to get thee back. I am afraid I spoil thee; Mistress
Kent insists that I do. But there will be time enough to learn to work.
And if this dreadful war should sweep away all our fortunes, we shall
have to buckle to, and, maybe, plant our own corn and husk it, and dig
our potatoes as our fore-mothers helped to when they lived in the cave
houses by the river's edge, before they built the real ones."

"Caves by the river's edge? Did the river never overflow them? And is
that where the Penny Pot stands----"

"Who told thee about that?"

"I walked there once with Patty. She knows a great many things about the
town. And she said I ought to learn them as I was born here, lest the
British come and destroy them."

Madam Wetherill smiled at the sweet, earnest face.

"They did not destroy New York, but I should be sorry to see them here.
And I will tell thee: in that cave was born the first child to the
colonists. He was named John Key, and good Master Penn presented him
with a lot of ground. But I think he should have been called William
Penn Key, to perpetuate the incident and the great founder. There are
many queer old landmarks fading away."

"And where were you born?" asked Primrose, deeply interested.

"Not here at all, but in England. And I grew up and was married there.
Then my husband put a good deal of money in the new colony and came
over, not meaning to stay. But I had some relatives here, and no near
ones at home, being an only child. The Wardours did not run to large
families. My husband was much older than I, and when his health began to
fail, instructed me in many things about the estate. So, when I lost
him, I was interested to go on and see what a woman could do. There was
a cousin who was a sea captain and had been to strange places, the
Indies it was called then, and the curious ports on the M