Chapter I: Front Matter

PEGGY OWEN AND LIBERTY

_BY_ LUCY FOSTER MADISON

AUTHOR OF

"PEGGY OWEN"

"PEGGY OWEN, PATRIOT"

"PEGGY OWEN AT YORKTOWN"

ETC.

ILLUSTRATED BY H. J. PECK

The Penn Publishing Company PHILADELPHIA MCMXIII

COPYRIGHT 1912 BY THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY

"The motto of our father-band
Circled the world in its embrace:
'Twas Liberty throughout the land,
And good to all their brother race.
Long here--within the pilgrim's bell
Had lingered--though it often pealed--
Those treasured tones, that eke should tell
Where freedom's proudest scroll was sealed!
Here the dawn of reason broke
On the trampled rights of man;
And a moral era woke
Brightest since the world began."

Introduction

In "Peggy Owen," the first book of this series, is related the story of a little Quaker maid who lived across from the State House in Philadelphia, and who, neutral at first on account of her religion, became at length an active patriot. The vicissitudes and annoyances to which she and her mother are subjected by one William Owen, an officer in the English army and a kinsman of her father's, are also given.

"Peggy Owen, Patriot" tells of Peggy's winter at Middlebrook, in northern New Jersey, where Washington's army is camped, her capture by the British and enforced journey to the Carolinas, and final return home.

"Peggy Owen at Yorktown" details how Peggy goes to Virginia to nurse a cousin, who is wounded and a prisoner. The town is captured by the British under Benedict Arnold, the traitor, and Peggy is led to believe that he has induced the desertion of her friend, John Drayton. Drayton's rescue from execution as a spy and the siege of Yorktown follow.

In the present volume Peggy's friends rally about her when her Cousin Clifford is in danger of capture. The exciting events of the story show the unsettled state of the country after the surrender of Cornwallis.

Contents

I. A SMALL DINNER BECOMES A PARTY 11

II. PEGGY IS SURPRISED 26

III. ON THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA 40

IV. THE SEARCH 53

V. FRIENDS IN NEED 69

VI. APPEARANCES AGAINST HER 81

VII. DAVID OWEN IS INFORMED OF THE FACTS 94

VIII. BEFORE THE COUNCIL 108

IX. OUT OF THE FRYING-PAN INTO THE FIRE 120

X. A RACE FOR LIFE 134

XI. THE CHOICE OF FAIRFAX 144

XII. "THEY MUST GO HOME" 163

XIII. A WOMAN'S WIT 176

XIV. MARCHING ORDERS 194

XV. THE ATTACK ON THE BLOCKHOUSE 215

XVI. "OF WHAT WAS HE GUILTY?" 227

XVII. A GLIMPSE OF HOME 244

XVIII. HEROD OUT HERODED 256

XIX. THE TURN OF THE WHEEL 272

XX. A SLIGHT EMPHASIS OF "THAT" 285

XXI. CHOSEN BY LOT 303

XXII. WHAT CAN BE DONE? 318

XXIII. A LITTLE HUMOR DESPITE A GRIM SITUATION 334

XXIV. "THEE MAY TELL HIM AT THE LAST" 348

XXV. AT HEADQUARTERS 363

XXVI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE GLEN 376

XXVII. THE SAFEGUARD OF HIS HONOR 392

XXVIII. "HOW COULD SHE KNOW?" 407

XXIX. IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH 424

XXX. AND THEN THE END 437

Illustrations

PAGE

"WHY, IT'S FATHER!" _Frontispiece_

"CLOSE THE DOOR" 47

THE TWO GIRLS SET FORTH 97

A SHOWER OF BULLETS FELL ABOUT THE SLEIGH 138

A CRY OF ANGUISH WENT UP 221

"WHERE IS THEE GOING?" 268

"I KNEEL TO YOU, SIR" 373

Peggy Owen and Liberty