"Did they leave their hiding-places only in the night time, mamma?"
asked Walter.

"No," she replied, "they would sometimes sally forth during the day and
attack the farmers in their fields. So that the men were compelled to
carry muskets and be ready to fight for their lives, while women and
children were kept in a constant state of terror."

"I think I have read that one of the worst of them was a blacksmith,
living in Freehold?" remarked Evelyn, half inquiringly.

"Yes, his name was Fenton; he was a very wicked man, who, like many
others calling themselves Tories, took advantage of the disturbance of
the times to rob and murder his fellow-countrymen; he began his career
of robbery and murder very early in the war.

"One of his first acts, as such, was the plundering of a tailor's shop
in the township. A committee of vigilance had been already organized,
and its members sent Fenton word that if he did not return what he had
stolen he should be hunted out and shot.

"He was a coward, as such villains almost always are, and did return the
clothing, sending with it a written message, 'I have returned your ----
rags. In a short time I am coming to burn your barns and houses, and
roast you all like a pack of kittens.'

"One summer night, shortly afterward, he led a gang of desperadoes like
himself against the dwelling of an old man named Farr. There were but
three persons in the house--the old man, his wife, and daughter. They
barricaded their door and defended themselves for a while, but Fenton