ross the Hudson, and slaughtered us like
sheep in the barn we lay in."

"Why, were you in that too?" I asked, surprised. "I thought that troop
was called Lady Washington's Light Horse."[3]

"Ay, we were then of that troop, Captain Winwood and I. 'Twas for his
conduct in that affair, his valour and skill in saving the remnant of
the troop, that he was put, t'other day, in command of an independent
company. I may take some pride in having helped him to this honour;
for his work the night General Grey surprised us was done so quietly,
and his report made so little of his own share in the business,
'twould have gone unrecognised, but for my account of it. Though, to
be sure, General Washington said afterward, in my hearing, that such
bravery and sagacity, coupled with such modesty, were only what he
might expect of Captain Winwood."

Cornelius had shared Philip's fortunes since their departure from New
York. When Winwood fell wounded in the snow, between the two
blockhouses at the foot of the cliff, that night the rebels met defeat
at Quebec, the pedagogue remained to succour him, and so was taken
prisoner with him. He afterward helped nurse him in the French
religious house, in the walled "upper town," to which the rebel
wounded were conveyed.

Upon the exchange of prisoners, Philip, having suffered a relapse, was
unable to accompany his comrades homeward, and Cornelius stayed to
care for him. There was a Scotchwoman who lived upon a farm a few
miles West of Quebec, and whose husband was serving on our side as one
of Colonel Maclean's Royal Highlanders. She took Winwood and the
pedagogue into her house as guests, trusting them till some uncertain
time in the future might find them able to pay.

When at last Philip dared hazard the journey, the rebel siege of
Quebec, which had continued in a half-hearted manner until Spring
brought British reinforcements up the river in ship-loads, had long
been raised, and the rebels had long since flown. Provided by Governor
Carleton with the passports to which in their situation they were
entitled, the two started for New York, bound by way of the St.
Lawrence, the Richelieu, the lakes, and the Hudson. It was now Winter,
and only Winwood's impatience to resume service could have tempted
them to such a journey in that season.

They came part way afoot, receiving guidance now from some solitary
fur-capped _courier du bois_ clad in skins and hoofed with snow-shoes,
now from some pea