I was wondering if the mistress would give me permission, but a moment later she was there too, with little Clara. Clara’s little round face was flushed with excitement, I remember. So we all went down to the waterside by the fort. It was a clear day and you could see right across the harbor. And there in the distance you could see the two English sails. They were riding out in the entrance to the harbor, so that no ships could get in or out to the sea. By and by, we saw a puff of white smoke. Then there was a long pause until we heard the sound of the guns, like a little rumble; for they were maybe seven miles away. And the people by the water cried out. Word came that the English settlers out past Brooklyn were mustering and taking up arms, though nobody knew for sure. The men on the walls of the fort had a cannon pointed out at the harbor, but the governor not being there, nobody was taking charge, which greatly disgusted the Mistress. I think she’d have been glad to take charge herself.

They had already sent messengers upriver to warn the governor. But it was a day or two before he came back. During that time, the English ships stayed where they were and didn’t come any closer.

Then one evening the governor arrived to take charge, and as soon as she heard this, the Mistress went to see him. When she got back, she was looking very angry, but she didn’t say why. The next morning, the Boss came home too.

When the Boss walked in the door, the Mistress remarked that he had been gone a long time. And he replied that he had come back as soon as he could. That was not what the governor said, she answered. She heard he’d made a stop upriver. And she gave him a black look. Made a stop when the English were attacking his own family, she said.

“Indeed I did,” says he, with a big smile. “And you should be glad of it.”