Nicholas; whereupon the goblin threw himself up in the air like a ball and went off in a whirlwind, carrying away with him the nightcap of the Dominie's wife; which was discovered the next Sunday morning hanging on the weathercock of Esopus church steeple, at least forty miles ofif! Several events of this kind having taken place, the regular skippers of the river, for a long time, did not venture to pass the Dunderberg without lowering their peaks, out of homage to the Heer of the mountain ; and it was observed that all such as paid this tribute of respect were suffered to pass unmolested.

Chapter XX

The Spirit of '76

mihtar THE Hudso y and na^•al operations along the n and its shores during the War for Independence cannot be exhaustively discussed in a work that of necessity covers so wide a field as the present volume. At the most, w^e may only hope to indicate, by the selection of several incidents, the character of the iuA-asion and the spirit of those who opposed it. Tor}'ism, it may be said in passing, was not entirely confined to the cities, yet it had its strongholds there, and the general tem]3er of the country people seems to have inclined towards the Continental cause. Before the battle of Long Island, in .\ugust, 1776, the New York Con\'ention sent delegates to stir up the veomanr\' along the river. As the enemy's ships w^ere at anchor near Tarrytown, powder and ball w^ere sent to that place. Colonel Hammond, of local celebrity, w^as actively engaged in organising the militia for defence; Colonel Pierre Van Cortlandt, of the Croton manor of that name, was an active and efficient guardian of the east shore of the Tappan Zee ; while Colonel