if corinne thought to create a sensation by her last disclosure, she was gratified beyond her wildest expectations. it was not, however, what they all said (for they were rendered literally speechless by surprise), but the way they looked that caused her to go almost into hysterics of laughter. if she had informed them that there was a lighted bomb about to go off in the cellar, they could not have assumed more open-mouthed, startled expressions!
"oh, don't look so stunned!" she panted, at length, weak with laughter. "it won't hurt you!"
"but—b-but—" stammered margaret, and at last brought out the eternal question, "how—how do you know?"
"the way i know is this, and in order to explain it, i might as well tell you the whole103 history of the place. it won't take long, and it will make you understand better. we know how richmond hill began, so i won't go over that. after the battle of long island and washington's retreat from new york, we don't hear a thing about it till the end of the war. about that time it was the headquarters of the british general, sir guy carleton. after the war, when washington became president and new york the capital, richmond hill was taken by vice-president john adams as his residence till the capital was removed to washington.
"then aaron burr took it, lived there a number of years, improved the place a lot, and made the grounds very beautiful. i must tell you right now that the place was a hill at that time, about a hundred feet high, and had a fine view over the hudson. the river was nearer too, just a few feet beyond greenwich street. that hardly seems possible, for it's blocks farther off now. but in later years they filled it in and made a lot more space to build on, and that has moved the river banks farther104 away. well, burr lived here with his wife and a lovely little daughter, theodosia, till after he killed hamilton in the duel. then he had to give the place up, and it was sold.
"after that, a number of different people lived there till 1817. then the city began to reach up this way, and they decided to put regular streets through here and make city blocks. of course they couldn't leave a high hill like that standing, so they leveled it and lowered the house gradually to the street, and it stood somewhere right about here. i can't make out the very spot, for some books say it was on the north side of charlton street, and others, on the south side. and one even said it faced on varick street. but anyway, right near this spot it stood; and as no one seemed to want such a big place for a residence any more, it became a sort of hotel or tavern.
"then, some one else bought it and turned it into a theater, and for several years it was called the richmond hill theater. but it wasn't very successful, so after a while it was sold again, and this time became a menagerie105 and circus. later it was turned into a tavern again. but at last, in 1849, it was so old and rickety that they tore it down and put up these nice little houses over the place where it stood. that's all there is about it. now are you convinced that i wasn't crazy?"
"it seems too wonderful to be true!" sighed margaret. "to think we're living right on the spot where all these strange things happened to alison! i can scarcely believe i'm not asleep and dreaming all this. but, oh, there are so many questions i want to ask! for instance, i can't yet understand how it was that if madame mortier was a tory, washington could have his headquarters at her house. couldn't she have forbidden it?"
"why, it seems to be this way," answered corinne. "in war time then, as well as now, the army that was occupying a city could do about as it pleased—used all the houses and food and so forth that it felt inclined to, whether the things belonged to the enemy or not. sometimes they would pay the people for them, and sometimes they didn't—just took106 them. i suppose washington had to have headquarters out of town for some reason, and the only available place was richmond hill. he was probably sorry enough to cause madame mortier any inconvenience, and no doubt he offered her all reasonable compensation. for i read in one book that washington made it a rule that this should be done whenever it was necessary to use any one's house or goods. if she didn't like it, he couldn't help that. matters were too serious for him to quibble about such things.
"that's my only explanation of your question, margaret. but what puzzles me even more is how did alison come to be there at all? who was she? why did she leave bermuda, and what did she do before she left it that caused her to be under suspicion?"
as no one could throw any light on these mysteries, they all remained silent a moment. suddenly jess, who had been turning the pages of the blank-book in which margaret had copied the journal, broke out with this demand:
107
"what i'd like to know is the explanation of this: 'a strange thing happened last night. at midnight i awoke. i heard confused sounds on the road without—carts creaking by, men shouting, women crying, and babies screaming.' now what do you suppose it was all about?"
"i think i can explain that," answered corinne, who seemed literally saturated with historical information since her recent researches. "in february of 1776, while washington was still besieging the british at boston, he sent general lee down to new york to begin fortifying it. lee and his forces arrived in the city on the very day that sir henry clinton, the british commander, sailed into the harbor with a fleet of vessels. well, the city just about went into a panic, for every one was certain there would be a big battle right off! and the histories say just what alison did—that they all began to pack up and move out of the way as quick as they could, and all night the roads were filled with carts, and coaches, and crying women and children. every one was108–110 scared to death! it proved to be a false alarm, for clinton sailed right off again, and lee only tended to the business of fortifying.
"but, you notice, alison says that was when all the servants ran away but two, and madame mortier got sick and went to bed. she must have been sick a long time, for washington didn't get there till april or may, and she was still in bed then. perhaps she was quite an old lady and had had a severe shock. maybe she was delicate anyway. and she evidently must have heard that her house was to be made use of, because she sent for alison and warned her about it, and that she wasn't to have any communication with the rebels. madame mortier must have been a tartar!"
"but tell us more about the plot!" cried margaret. "that's the main thing, after all. how did they intend to kill washington?"
warning
"madame mortier warned allison that she wasn't to have any
communication with the rebels"
"why, i read in one book that some one was to put poison in a dish of peas, but somehow washington was warned about it ahead of time and didn't eat them, of course. but he learned all about the plot, and he had a lot of111 the conspirators arrested. one of them was courtmartialed and hanged, as a proof that such performances didn't pay. i'm glad somebody was punished for trying to do such an abominable thing, anyway!"
"well, one thing i'm convinced of!" declared bess. "that wicked old steward had a lot to do with the scheme. don't you think so?"
"he certainly must have," agreed corinne. "but what do you suppose he was doing down there in the cellar when alison saw him that night, and why did he hide things in that place in the beam? and what part did alison take in the plot, anyway? isn't it simply distracting that her journal is torn off right there! and where can the rest of it be, and why was it torn at all? and why was this part saved so carefully? and what became of the sapphire signet? seems to me as though i'd go crazy with all these unanswered questions pounding away in my brain!"
nobody having any solutions to offer, again they all sat quietly for a while, till margaret's112 eye happened to light on the pile of books that corinne had laid on the floor.
"what are those, corinne?"
"oh, they are some books on new york city history that i got out of the library to read up. each one has something about richmond hill in it. and this one even has a picture of the house. see! here it is."
they all crowded around her to look. "what a fine-looking place!" was the general comment. and bess added:
"does it seem possible that this shabby old neighborhood ever looked like that delightful country-place!"
"it was the most beautiful residence anywhere around new york for a long while," said corinne. "the grounds were fine too, and the big gateway to the estate was right where the corner of spring and macdougal streets is now. i thought you might like to read these books, margaret, so i brought them for you. but oh, girls!" she ended; "right here and now i take the solemn determination that i will clear up this mystery if it takes me113 the rest of my life! i'll never be content till i know the explanation of it all. and, margaret, i want you, if you will, to make a copy of the journal for me—not the cipher, but the plain english—so that i can refer to it whenever i want. will you?"
"indeed i will!" agreed margaret. "we'll all help you in every way we can. and here's something else i've decided on. i'm going to change your office in this antiquarian club, corinne, from just plain secretary to chief investigator!"
