r git
rid ob hur."

"Oh, Sukey, forgive me," cried Peggy laughing in spite of her anxiety
to get rid of the black. "Thee is the dearest thing that ever was. I
do want the kitchen a little while. Go up to my room, and thee will
find a string of yellow beads on the chest of drawers. Thee may have
them, Sukey, if thee will stay up there for a little while."

"Yes'm," answered Sukey, preparing to take her departure. "I don't
'prove nohow de way you all takes on wid Miss Sally," she grumbled as
she left the room.

Peggy sped to the entry as soon as the black had left it. "Come,
Cousin Clifford," she called, and Clifford Owen stepped forth. "Sukey
hath gone up-stairs, and thee can come in while I think what to do.
Come!"

She led the way to the kitchen as she spoke, and her cousin followed
her with visible reluctance. He brightened perceptibly at sight of the
great fire of hickory logs that blazed in the fireplace.

"Sit here, my cousin," said Peggy placing a chair in the corner
between the dresser and the wall where the light was shaded. "Keep thy
beaver on thy head as the Friends do, then if any one should come in
it will seem as though thou wert but a passer-by asking for something
to warm thee."

"'Fore George, but that smells good," ejaculated Clifford as the girl
placed a bowl of smoking hot pepper-pot before him. "What is it,
Peggy?"

"'Tis pepper-pot, Clifford. 'Tis made nowhere else in the states but
here in Philadelphia. It hath dumplings in it, which pleases most
boys. And now let me think while thee is getting warm."

Clifford regarded her anxiously for a moment, then the seductive aroma
of the pepper-pot overcame whatever of uneasiness that he may have
felt, and he fell to with a relish. Meantime Peggy's brows were
puckered in thought. What should she do with him? she asked herself in
perplexity. The temper of the people was such that it would not easily
brook any indulgence to the enemy. The penalty for harboring, or
aiding and abetting an escaping prisoner was fine, imprisonment, and
sometimes even public whipping. Should her father, pure patriot though
he was, be suspected of giving aid to one of the British prisoners it
would go hard with him. Not even his previous good record would save
him from the punishment. And so the girl found herself confronted
with a serious problem. She could not let her cousin go forth in such
weather, and yet her father must not be implicated in his escape. The
house w