with Clarissa, who had brightened and strengthened each day since her
arrival; then Grandma Effingham's storehouse of anecdotes and pleasant
stories, to which Betty listened with delight and the respectful
deference that youth of those days paid to age; and last (though Betty
would have denied it stoutly) the frequent visits to the Verplancks of a
certain tall soldier, whose red coat made her eyes sparkle with disdain,
even while her heart beat quicker at sound of his voice. Truly, Betty's
soul was torn within her, and for every smile that Yorke succeeded in
winning he was sure to receive such dainty snubs, such mischievous
flouting following swiftly after, that he almost despaired of ever
carrying the outworks, much less the citadel of the willful maid's
heart.

Kitty Cruger had received Betty most cordially, but the acquaintance had
not yet progressed toward intimacy. On several occasions when Betty had
been especially teasing, Yorke had seen fit to retaliate by seeking
Kitty's side, and, although he was far from suspecting it, he had thus
piqued his little lady-love extremely. For Kitty was a reigning belle,
and the toast of the British officers as she had been of the
Continentals, and she liked Yorke and Yorke's attentions. If Betty had
only known whose face came oftenest in Kitty's dreams, and that a blue
sword-knot was her most cherished possession, perhaps the dawning
jealousy which she felt toward her would never have existed. Who can
say?

The winter had set in with great rigor, and the troops had even crossed
on the ice from Staten Island to the city; sad tales reached Betty's
watchful ears of privations endured in the army of General Washington,
and it made her cheeks burn and tingle to hear the jests and laughter of
the Tory guests who visited the house, at the expense of the so-called