ws marching through the darkness and that
dreadful storm of snow, sleet, and bitter wind and only half clothed.
Just think of it! a continuous march of fifteen miles through darkness,
over such a road, the storm directly in their faces. They reached their
destination stiff with cold, yet rushed at once upon the foe, fighting
bravely for freedom for themselves and their children. 'Victory or
death,' was the watchword Washington had given them."

"Were they from all the States, mamma?" asked Walter.

"They were principally Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New England troops,"
she answered. "Grant, the British commander in New Jersey, knew of the
destitution of our troops but felt no fear that they would really
venture to attack him; persuading himself that they would not cross the
river because the floating ice would make it a difficult, if not
impossible, thing for them to return.

"'Besides,' he wrote on the 21st, 'Washington's men have neither shoes
nor stockings nor blankets, are almost naked, and dying of cold and want
of food.'"

"And didn't Rall say the Americans wouldn't dare to come against him?"
asked Walter.

"Yes; his reply to a warning of danger of being attacked was, 'Let them
come; what need of intrenchments! We will at them with the bayonet!'"

"And when they did come he was killed?"

"Yes, mortally wounded; taken by his aids and servant to his quarters
at the house of a Quaker named Stacey Potts; and there Washington and
Greene visited him just before leaving Trenton."

"They knew he was dying, mamma?"

"Yes, and, as Lossing tells us, Washington offered such consolation as a
soldier and Christian can bestow."

"It was very kind, and I hope Rall appreciated it."

"It would seem that he did, as the historian tells us it soothed the
agonies of the expiring hero."

CHAPTER VII.

From Trenton Grandma Elsie, the captain, and their young charges went on
to Princeton, where they received a most joyful welcome from Harold and
Herbert Travilla, now spending their last year at the seminary.

Their mother had written to them of the intended visit, and all
necessary arrangements had been made. Carriages were in waiting, and
shortly after their arrival the whole party were on their way to the
battleground, where the attention of the young people was drawn to the
various points of interest, particularly the spot where fell General
Mercer.

"The general's horse was wounded in the leg by a musket bal