replied the heroic lady: 'the sight of my house in flames, would be to
me a treat, for, I have seen enough of you to know, that you never
injure, what it is possible for you to keep and enjoy. The application
of a torch to it I should regard as a signal for your departure, and
consider the retreat of the spoiler an ample compensation for the loss
of my property.'

"This was one of those threats which the British never failed to carry
into execution. The house was burnt, and the whole property consigned to
waste and desolation. But, as had been foreseen, the perpetrator of the
ruthless deed retreated, to return no more."

"Just like Cornwallis and his red-coats," said Kinnison, "burning
people's houses and wasting their lands was a way of making converts,
which they discovered and practised with a vengeance. Mrs. Borden was a
strong-minded woman to have endured all this."




THE ESCAPE OF CAPTAIN PLUNKETT.


"Yes," said Warner, "Mrs. Borden was a heroine as wouldn't have
disgraced the Romans. But what would you think of a mere girl, whose
family was opposed to our cause, exerting herself to procure the freedom
of one of our officers, who had been taken by the British?"

"I should say it's what young girls in love have done many a time," said
Kinnison.