ast
sentence broke down any resistance she might have shown. Hastily she
told Mrs. Irving of the letter and its tidings, and although that lady
was more than sorry to lose Molly at such short notice, she not only
made no objections to her departure, but helped her with her hurried
preparations and wished her all possible good fortune. In less time
than it takes to tell it, Molly had "unpegged her own clothing from
the lines," then seeing they were still wet, she made the articles
into a tight bundle which she tied to the pommel, the messenger sprang
into the saddle, with Molly behind him, and off they started from the
house which had been Molly's home for so long, journeying to the farm
of her childhood's memories.

Although she missed the kind-hearted Irving family who had been so
good to her, it was a pleasure to be with her parents again, and Molly
put on her rough farm garments once more, and early and late was out
among the cattle, or working in the fields. And she had a joyful
surprise when her husband paid her a flying visit a few days later.
After that, he came quite frequently, though always unexpectedly, and
if proof was wanting that she was the kind of a wife that John Hays
was proud to have his fellow-soldiers see, it lies in the fact that he
allowed Molly to visit him in camp more than once. She saw him at
Trenton, and at Princeton, before the Continental army routed the
British there, on January 3, 1777.

In order to surprise the three British regiments which were at
Princeton at that time, General Washington, Commander-in-chief of the
Continental force, quietly left Trenton with his troops, and crept up
behind the unsuspecting British at Princeton, killing about one
hundred men and taking three hundred prisoners, while his own losses
were only thirty men. Then, anxious to get away before Lord Cornwallis
could arrive with reinforcements for the British, he slipped away with
his men to Morristown, New Jersey, while the cannon were still booming
on the battle-field, their noise being mistaken in Trenton for
thunder. With the Continental troops went John Hays, gunner, and as
soon as Molly heard of the engagement, and the retirement of General
Washington's troops, she hastened to the field of action to seek out
any wounded men whom she could care for or comfort in their last
hours. Picking her way across the littered field, she brought a drink
of water here, lifted an aching head there, and covered the faces