himself a native wife, by whom he had one child. On the summit of High Taur he built an altar, refusing the sun worship of the Indians; but they were enraged, and set upon and would have killed him had not a miracle saved him. An earthquake swallowed his enemies, and incident- ally opened the present channel through which the Hudson flows. Another story follows : A band of German colonists settled here two centuries or more ago, men who knew how to extract metal from the rocks. Their leader, a nobleman, Hugo by name, refused to follow the cus- tom of the old country, which decreed that the forge fires should be extinguished once in seven years. The belief used to obtain that a salamander grew in the fire, and if allowed to remain unmolested for more than seven years would develop his perfect form and be able to issue from the flames and work incalculable mischief among men. But Hugo laughed at the super- stitious murmurings of his men, till one day he and they saw the dreadful monster take shape, — the shape Digitized by Microsoft® 302 The Hudson River of a serpent or dragon, — with darting tongue and blaz- ing eyes, and body and tail that seemed like metal at a white heat. Hugo's wife saved her husband and extinguished the fire with holy water, but lost her own life in doing so. Then seven years more, and his only son was snatched away. Again seven years, and Hugo, upon the summit of High Taur, was shown the treasures of the earth which he might win, only at the peril of his soul, but his daughter's prayer and touch saved him. There, in the depths, the salamander glowed, but his spell was powerless. Then appeared in the mountain a knightly man, between whom and the daughter of Hugo there sprang up a pure passion. She in her innocence would have expressed her love for him, but he repelled her gently, saying: " When you slept, I came and put a crown of gems on your head; that was because I was in the power of the earth spirit. Then I had power only over the element of fire, that either consumes or hardens to stone; but now water and life are mine. Behold! wear these, for you are worthy." Then he touched the tears that fell from the girl's eyes and they turned into lilies in his hands, and he placed them upon her brow. He told her that, having left heaven for love of man, passing through the ordeal of the fire, he was liberated by her mother's act and took a child's form. He rehearsed his trials, his love for her, the danger he encountered of becoming again an earth Digitized by Microsoft® Around Haverstraw Bay 303 spirit. While they conversed, Hugo and his followers burst upon them. Misunderstanding his daughter's agitation, the old man in a rage ordered his followers to seize the stranger and fling him into the furnace. What the girl saw, when this inhuman decree had been obeyed, was a form clad in robes of silver float from the furnace and drift upward into the night. It is said that that sight brought peace to her soul and serenity to her countenance, which is hardly less strange than all the other incidents of this marvellous tale. Digitized by Microsoft® Chapter XVIII The Storming of Stony Point BETWEEN Croton Point and Peekskill, above the railway station, are scattered pleasant residences. A few miles to the north is the little village of Cruger's; then, just above Montrose's Point, back of the bay that forms the south shore of Verplanck's Point, is the historic ground where Baron Steuben laboured to lick the raw material of '76 into serviceable battalions. The history of Verplanck's Point is intimately con- nected with that of Stony Point, on the opposite side of the river. The storming and reduction of Stony Point by the American army under General Wayne occurred on the night of the 15th of July, 1779. It was one of the brilliant achievements of the Revolu- tion, and, indeed, in some respects, can hardly be excelled by any action in our history. The British had retired from Philadelphia; Wash- ington's army had passed through the trying experi- ence of Valley Forge, and Monmouth had been fought. Now the old struggle for supremacy on the Hudson was renewed. Sir Henry Clinton had captured the 304 Digitized by Microsoft® The Storming of Stony Point 305 American posts at Stony Point and Verplanck's Point, opposite; while Washington still held the important fortresses in the Highlands. Clinton's attack was made on the first of June. The American force at Stony Point consisted of six hundred men, under command