At the close of a sultry day in August, the general and his family were sitting in the large hall of the mansion; the servants were dispersed about the premises ; three of the guard were asleep in the basement, and the other three were lying upon the grass in front of the house. The night had fallen, when a servant announced that a stranger at the back gate wished to speak with the general. His errand was immediately apprehended. The doors and windows were closed and barred, the f^imily

THE HUDSON.

were hastily collected iu an upper room, and the general ran to his bedchamber for his arms. Prom the window he saw the house surrounded by armed men. For the purpose of arousing the sentinels upon the grass, and, perhaps, alarm the town, then half a mile distant, he fired a pistol from the window. At that moment the assailants burst open the doors, and, at the same time, Mrs. Schuyler perceived that, in the confusion and alarm, in their retreat from the hall, her infant child, a few months old,

&1AIECV'3> IN &CHUiLliR& MAhblON

liad been left in a cradle iu the nursery below. Slie was flying to the rescue of her child, when the general interposed, and prevented her. But her third daughter (who afterwards became the wife of the last Patroon of Eensselaerwyck) instantly rushed down stairs, snatched the still sleeping infant from the cradle, and boi'e it off in safety. One of the Indians hurled a sharp tomahawk at her as she ascended the stairs. It cut her dress within a few inches of the infant's head, and struck the