The Little Washingtons' Travels Part 6

"What do you think? A battle in New York!" cried Jack, throwing the uniforms on the floor.

"Now we can have some fun!" added George.

"Oh, where'd you find them?" asked Martha and Anne in one breath.

"Never mind where--get into them and let's go to war," retorted John, taking his uniform to one of the bedrooms.

The outer door from the parlor to the corridor was well secured against surprise, and then the children quickly dressed in the uniforms. Canes left by the two gentlemen, and umbrellas, were perfectly satisfactory guns for the soldiers. One after the other they appeared in the parlor, and laughingly admired one another.

"Now what? We're all ready," said John.

"Martha, twist up your curls! Soldiers can't have such hair when they fight!" scorned George.

So Martha ran to her mother's room and pinned up her hair, keeping it on top of her head by dragging her father's travelling cap over it.

The boys also got their caps, and then they stood in line while George drilled them.

"This room is too small for any fun," said Jack.

"Can't we parade down the hallway? If we hear any one coming we can hide," suggested Martha.

The others exchanged looks. That was a tempting idea.

"Might as well. No one is about as early as this," said Jack.

"Come on, then! George, you're general, you know, so you must go first,"

advised Anne.

Nothing loath, George opened the door softly and peeped out. "All's quiet on the Brandywine!" reported George, going out on tiptoes.

Once out in the hall, however, the five Yanks seemed to lose their nerve. First Anne rushed back to the parlor, then Martha followed.

Finally, the three boys came tumbling in, for no other cause than that they thought they heard footsteps somewhere.

"You're a lot of cowards! If Was.h.i.+ngton ever had to fight with runaways like you two, I pity him!" sneered George.

"Well, didn't you run back, too?" exclaimed Martha.

"Only to see what you girls were after! We're going out now and march properly!" declared Jack.

"So'll we--this time!" promised Anne.

Again the army sallied forth, George telling them that they had to storm the heights of Brooklyn and Harlem to hold the forts in New York.

The general marched his army down the whole length of the corridor without meeting any one, and then they stormed the stairs at the end of the hallway. Up on the next floor they marched again, and not a soul was there to watch or applaud, although the uniformed army marched as well as a squad of bellboys--in fact, they resembled them closely.

"Now, men! Howe and his men are climbing up the ridge and we must fight on the Heights or be captured!" warned the general, waving his cane at the next flight of stairs.

Up this flight swarmed the five Continentals, and at the top they turned to shoot down any English that dared to follow; but no one was to be seen.

The general held a council of war with his army. What was there to do in this terrible extremity--the East River on one hand, the different regiments of the British on two sides, and Howe, with his main army, back of them?

"There's only one thing left for us--to cross the river in the fog and gain New York again," declared George.

"How can we cross, when there is nothing to cross?" asked Anne, with great lack of imagination.

"Oh, if our creek were only here, wouldn't it be a lark!" sighed Martha.

"Why, this hallway is our river, can't you see? The fog is so thick one can hardly tell which is land and which is water, but we can cross it all right, if you only follow me!" cried Was.h.i.+ngton courageously.

Down the whole length of the corridor he tore, eagerly followed by his four men, and reaching the stairway at the end he rushed up to the next floor.

This happened to be the top floor, and the roof, which was used in summer as a garden dining-room, and was now deserted, except for a few tubs of greens and some odd chairs standing about, was at the top of the next flight.

In marching the army from the East River to camp in New York, George found the roof and exulted in the spot.

"Just the place for an engagement! We can hide behind the palm trees and shoot at each other when one of us tries to cross the city. Two of us have to be British, though."

"John and I will be English, and the girls and you will be Yanks," said Jack, looking around to make sure no one was about.

"If we only had some of those apples for ammunition! Do you remember how soft and squashy they were when they hit you in the head?" laughed John, at the memory of that conflict on the creek.

"Well, this must be a bayonet fight. No guns or cannon on hand, you see, and the men at close quarters," said George.

So, making their fortifications of the tables and chairs waiting to be removed to the storehouse of the hotel, and then taking their places as American and British armies, the two sides opened warfare over the possession of New York City.

The battle waged furiously in the semi-light of the electric brilliancy which reflected from the dazzling advertising signs of the city. Both sides tried to capture each other and make them prisoners, which would end the war, but all five were agile and experienced warriors.

While Howe and Was.h.i.+ngton were engaged on the roof, Maggie had finished her extra tasks, and suddenly remembered the children. She hastily ordered the ice cream and cake to be sent up, and hurried to the suite to humbly apologize for her tardiness.

She knocked softly at the door, while framing excuses.

No one answered.

She knocked again--this time much louder, but still no one answered.

Quickly then, she opened the door and found all quiet and no one in the parlor. Some odds and ends of clothing--such as George's shoes, and Jack's coat, lay on the floor.

"Poor little dears! They waited jest as long as they could an' then they got tired and went to bed widout that cream!" said Maggie, opening a bedroom door softly to bless the little sleeping darlings. But not a bed was disturbed.

Maggie hurried from one room to the other, to find clothes scattered about in each room, but not a sign of the children.

"Oh, oh, oh! What has happened to thim children? Here I was told to watch thim, and now there ain't nothing but clothes to watch!" cried the distressed Maggie, as she hurried for the door leading to the main corridor.

Half beside herself with fear of the unknown, Maggie flung the door open, and was about to rush out, when she collided with the waiter, who carried the tray of ice cream and cake. As can be expected from such an impact, the tray crashed to the floor, mixing cake, cream and broken dishes well together.

The waiter shouted and berated Maggie, and she pulled at her hair and rolled her eyes upward, crying: "What shall I do? What shall I do? Thim children is kidnapped er else they've run away!"

The waiter quickly ran in to inspect the premises, and came back with a fearful idea: "Black Hand again! The city's full ov thim, and these folks are rich, yo' know, an' kin pay the reward!"