She will go with us." "I don't think it will be safe for her father to come after her, when the flurry is over." "Why not ?" "He will be with the Iroquois, even though his tribe doesn't like them any too well; for the Iroquois are the conquerors of the Delawares, and drove them off their hunting grounds." "Well," said Mrs.Ripley, with a sigh; "even if he never comes for her, she will always have a home with us." The dwelling of the Ripleys was on the eastern shore of the Susquehanna.
On the other side stood Fort Wintermoot and Forty Fort, the former being at the upper end of the valley.

That would be the first one reached by the invaders, and the expectation was that it would give up whenever ordered to do so, for nearly all in it were friends of the Tories.
It was evident that when Omas left his child with her friends, and spoke of returning the next day, or soon thereafter, he did not know how near the invasion was.

Mrs.Ripley expected that when he did learn it, he would hasten back for her.
The night, however, passed without his appearance, and the hot July sun came up over the forests on the eastern bank of the river, and still he remained away.

It looked as if he had decided to let her take her chances while he joined the invaders in their work of destruction and woe.
Mrs.Ripley would have been willing to wait longer, but she was urged not to lose another hour.

The frightened settlers were not allowed to take anything but their actual necessaries with them, for the cramped quarters in Forty Fort, where a number of cabins were erected, would be crowded to the utmost to make room for the hundreds who might clamor for admission.