.

Now in Maryland, as I have said before, we love, above all else,
courage in a man, and so I rode under the oak, and tore down the
proclamation, for I knew the courage of Charles Gordon, Tory though he
was. I knew also that the proceedings of forfeiture had been
instituted against him in the High Court of the Province, and that ere
I set foot on the soil of Maryland again, he would be driven from the
province, and it was for this that I paid this courtesy to the courage
of an enemy, as I left my native plains behind me.

It was a long road for a lad, but the people received me with open
arms and urged me on when I told them whither I was riding. After
several days of travelling along the shore of the Delaware and across
the low-lying plains of New Jersey, I came to the banks of the Hudson,
and saw across the water the great city of New York, its clustering
houses and steeples. And then it was not long before I was on the
ferry that conveyed me across the river, and heard the sharp ring of
the pavement under my horse's feet as I rode toward the great common
where lay the encampment of the troops. It was near twelve o'clock
when I came to the camp of the patriots and asked my way of an officer
to the quarters of the Maryland Line.

"You must be a stranger," he said, "or you would know that the
Maryland Line always has the place of honour in the camp;" and he
showed me where their quarters lay.

I felt aglow with pride when I heard this tribute to my countrymen. I
thanked him and rode on. A few minutes later I was among them. The
great voice of the Captain was giving me greeting; Dick Ringgold's
hand was on my shoulder, as he took charge of me; and many of my kith
and kin, old friends and neighbours who belonged to that famous
corps, came forward to greet and welcome me to the camp. Thus, after
many days of sickness and of travel, I took my place among the men who
were about to face the great storm. True, at the time quiet reigned
all along our front, which lay over beyond the heights of Brooklyn;
but hot work was soon expected, as the British fleet had been seen in
the offing, and it was only a question of time when the army would be
landed and the attack begun.

CHAPTER IX

THE RED TIDE OF BLOOD

Spruce Macaronies, and pretty to see,
Tidy and dapper and gallant were we;
Blooded, fine gentlemen, proper and tall,
Bold in a fox-hunt and gay at a ball;

Tralara! Tralara! now praise w