Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-07-21
you'd let Betsqy tdmedowa 'twould sorter

| tnelf interrupted conversation, the tall,
stalwart and perhaps rather severe-look-
ing Deacon strobe on into the house, paus.
ing moment before opening the lower
hall OF the door, to play at bo-peep with
| tOddling urchin, who seemed inclined
without this concession, to dispute the
| passage.
4" Uncle Solohion" was evidently ia
yorlte in the family, and the request he
preferred received a ready acquiescence,
especially from Betsey, whose beautiful
brown eyes glowed with pleasure as she
and her uncle exchanged glance of mu-
tual understanding But it was not until
her simple preparations were completed
and she, mounted on the pillion behind
her uncle, was a full half mile from her
home that any word of special meaning
was uttered by either of them
As they left the door the warm brillance
OF an October sunset was softening the
| gorgeous eolors of the diving maple
| leaves. Looking from the top of the hill,
the wide, well-wooded, terrace.like slopes
of Western Connecticut descend gently,
and then ascend again toward the west,
until they fade away into the hazy blue of
| the distance. Several lakes lying In the
shadows, cool ahd deeb, and many brooks
dashing down little ravires Of uhdtr HEM
lock-sheltered hill-sides, give point and
life to scenery as soft and pure as the at
niosphere of the Indian Summer
Over this Z" happy valley" the feet of
| foemen had never trod. Yet in thi.
| troubled year of 1777 there were few more
anxious portions of our country, plunged
in discouragemcnts as it all was, even to
| the very eyes. We had lost New York,
Newport, Ticonderoga and Philadelphia;
had suffered wasting defeats on Long
lnsland and at Fort Washington, and been
badly beaten at Brandywine and at Ger
mantown. To offset these losses were only
| the victory of Trenton and the partial sue.
cess at Princeton. The British controlled
the Lower Hudson and made destructive
raids in Southern Connecticut, marking
theif cUiirse by Tie ashes of unoffending
! towns and the blood of the defenseiess
On the north the advance Of BurgGyne had
been nearly unchecked At the west, in
the State of New York, lay the notoriously
! disaffected county of Duchess. Thus this
part of Western Connecticut seemed to lie
between three fires, and unprotected, as it
was left by the absence of nearly every
able bodied man with the distant armies,
it had many and grave reasons for appre-
hensiOn, especially in the not improbable
event of the defeat of Gates, and the con-
sequent success of the purpose of Sir
cHntrol of the entire Hudson River
! The drawn battle of Benus Heights,
magnified at first into victory, rumor
had afterward lessened in importance, till,
| by contrast with the high hopes raised at
| first, it seemed to be little better than a
disastrous defeat. And now, as the old
men and boys, frequently assisted by the
| willing women, had slowly and painfully
gathered in their harvests, there came
halting-time between summer and winter
IA time of weary, tremulous waiting; of
| longing and dreading, of hoping and fear
ing of praying and looking for news from
| Gates army,
II thought, Betsey," said her uncle, as
they came to turn in the road which re-
vealed the still distant steeple of the Sharon
meeting g-house'-" that is, your Aunt
Miriam and me both thought.you wouldn't
be none the worse off for leavin' Tory
Hill for a spell (you know that's what
folks call it now: But tell you it goes
again the grain witt ME to think o. my
fathers son bein' Tory, TO leave there,
| say, and come down to Town street and
stay awhile along with us. We, knowin'
how you feel about Joe an about our
rights an all, thought maybe you'd iest's
li'v be where you could hear somethin of
the sort you liked Eli %
The girl smiled up into the kindly gray
eyes that met hers by reason of their own
er's nearly twisting himself off of the seat
of his saddle to look behind him.
Yes, indeed, Uncle" she said If
il wasn't for YOU and Aunt Miriam,
l don't know how | could stand it.
You heyn't heard any news, hev you,
| Uncle ?'
"No, my girl. No, not yet. Pars0n
says there must be battle fore long; an
then we must hear, one way or tothcr.
May God, the God of Righteousness and
of Battles, grant us the victOrym And,
leaving the horse to pick his way, unaid-
ed, the old man clasped his hands and
closed his uplifted eyes as he proceeded.
" Veal We look unto the hills whence
cOmeth our help. If Thou, o Lord, art
for us, who shall he be that shall stand
against us? We are but feeble folk but
Thou teachest our hands to war and our
! fingers to fight"
He would, doubtless, have continued
this strain for some time longer, but for
the interruption of hOrseman galloping
in their rear, and sudden " Hellol''
which caused the Deacon's horse TO swerve
and his rider TO hastily gather up the bri-
| dle-reins.
"Hello, Deacon Bradley" shouted a
|
horse covered with sweat and foam.
| "Hello! Comm up with you, sir, has
saved me from ridin' clear down tu
! Sharon. I've been sent down from Sails
| bury tu tell your folks that the word is
that the Continentals is all beat 10 pieces,
and the British is a marchin' down on us
from the north. I've got tu go tu Els
worth East-tree tu tell em there"
| AS the boy was speaking the bright col
or forsook Betseys cheek, and her lips
moved in silent prayer; but she gave no
| other token of emotion.
Z" Hold on!' cried the Deacon to the eX-
cited boy. "Hold on How did We get
! yer news?'
Messenger brought it express from
! Hartford to Parson Lee an he sent me
down tn tell Parson Smith. Had big
battle, he said, and ever so many prism
ers was took"
"Oh! Thou God of Gracc!" said the
| Deacon, as he urged on his horse. "Oh!
can this be trueg / cannot, will not, be-
lieve it yet. The Spirit witnesseth with
my spirit that il is not true"
Uncle" said Betsey, her voice shak-
ing slightly, 'if this is true, is there moth
ing that can be doneS"
81 don't know, my dear, don't know
| ] hope so. If there is anythin', Capt
! Williams III know. Hewas all through the
French an Injun War, an he an Parson
III fix it out. if there's any fix tu it, The
worst ont is there amt no ammunition,
skersly. The boys mostly took it all when
they went. We've got some powder left;
but there amt no bullets, an most every
ole pewter platter's ben melted up inter
'em already Guess well hev til send up
a committee an get yer fathers an Uncle
Jake's. They've got lot, Might help
along consid'a able An there'd be the
satisfaction of making their dishes fight,
If they won't"
In the gray of the evening the riders
drew up In front of the parsonage, there
TO deliver Paison Lees message, before
proceeding further In the path of the
light that poured ont through the open
door, but his face in shadow, came the
Parson, bareheaded, TO halr the tidings,
"If it is the LoFdis will, Deacon, let all
His people say Amen. But in my opin-
ion this is only another of the rumors of