The house was sacked and plundered, fire was set to each corner, and in a few moments its blaze shed a baleful light far over the Tappan Sea. The invaders then pounced upon the blooming Laney van Tassel, the beauty of the Roost, and endeavored to bear her off to the boat. But here was the real tug of the war. The mother, the aunt, and the strapping negro wench, all flew to the rescue. The struggle continued down to the very water's edge, when a voice from the armed vessel at anchor ordered the spoilers to let go their hold. They relinquished the prize, jumped into their boats, and pulled off, and the heroine of the Roost escaped with a mere rumpling of the feathers."

"Shortly after the catastrophe of the Roost, Jacob van Tassel, in the course of one of his forays, fell into the hands of the British, was sent prisoner to New York, and was detained in captivity for the greater part of the war.''^

Immediately north of Van Tassel house is the residence of

^ Knickerbocker Magazine.

COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 197

Philip R. Pciulding, Esq. delightfully seated on a bold bank of the Hudson ; it commands from its elevated position, the noblest prospects of the river, while the view to the east is terminated by the lofty hills of Greenburgh. The edifice is constructed of Sing Sing marble, after the designs of Alex. J. Davis, Esq, In its details, both externally and internally, the most minute attention has been paid to a careful correspondence with the best examples of the Tudor era. Among the most remarkable features of the building, deserves to be noticed, the admirable porte cochere, or covered entrance for carriages, and a superb library ornamented wiih a lofty ceiling of carved timber.