The assailants having been refused admittance, and set at defiance, proposed a parley; whereupon an upper window was opened. A demand for a box of tea, with promise of future compensation, was rejected. A similar requisition, upon payment of a just and proper sum, was also refused, but the commander of the post held out to the besiegers the promise, that when the master returned home, he should positively sell them what tea they wanted, provided they would now peaceably withdraw from the premises. After reconnoitering the fortress, Madam Orser, and her followers resolved themselves into a council of war, and the result of their deliberation was, that the garrison would probably make a desperate defense, that although the courage of the be-siegers remained unshaken, and their ability to capture the place by a storm, was undoubted; yet that they were unwill-ing at present, to resort to bloody extremities, and concluded therefore, to accept the proposition made by Dame Arthur. The bold dragoons thereupon raised the siege and retired.

Chapter I

BEFORE THE BATTLE OF WHITEPLAINS 39

They were, soon after, according to the treaty stipulation, furnished with a large quantity of the much loved Bohea, and during the whole ensuing winter, their hearts were glad-ended by its sprightly decoctions.